Skip to main content
Main Menu Toggle
Richard Smith » Welcome

Welcome

Welcome, Hurricanes!  

 

I am Richard Smith. To say that I am excited about this school year is an understatement. It is important to me that students and their families know that they are invited to share this part of the journey with me to learn, grow, and accomplish great things. 

 

My own educational path began at Chamblee High School in Dekalb County, Georgia. Upon graduation in 1979, I attended Wofford College, where I was an English major. My first Master's degree (M. Ed. in Secondary English) was completed at Georgia State University in 1988. I also completed a Master's degree in Divinity at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in 1991. 

 

My teaching experience has been at the high school and college levels. I taught at my alma mater, Chamblee High School, from 1983 to 1986 (English grades eight and ten) after which Dekalb County transferred me to what was then Sequoyah High School in Doraville, Georgia (English grades eight, ten, and eleven). After serving that school for two years, I left and went to seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. In 2002-2003 I taught seventh grade English and Language Arts at Southwest Middle School in Chatham County. I have taught at Savannah Technical College in Hinesville, Low Country Technical College in Bluffton, SC, Virginia College- Savannah, and of course, at Savannah State University (19 years) in the First-Year Writing Program. This is my second year at Hardeeville Junior Senior High School. 

 

I have been married for 33 years. During our life together, my wife and I have served churches in Elberton, Georgia, Darien, Georgia, and Savannah, Georgia. I have been one of three pastors at the Sycamore Church in Savannah for 20 years. We have two adult children, Abby (29) and Luke (24), and one grandchild, Matias, (2). Our family also includes a three-year-old golden retriever named King. 

Sports have been a large part of my life. I was a three-sport letterman in high school at Chamblee High School in Dekalb County (football, wrestling, and baseball). I played two seasons of baseball at Wofford College in Spartanburg, S.C. In my professional life, I have coached football, wrestling, and baseball in both paid and volunteer capacities.