Meet the 2024–2025 Teacher of the Year

From CHAT intern to 2024-2025 Teacher of the Year, Courtney Barber embodies the heart and dedication that define Rise Academy today.

In the summer of 2013, a recent University of Richmond graduate attending East End Fellowship decided to apply for a year-long internship at a neighborhood nonprofit called Church Hill Activities & Tutoring (CHAT). She didn’t fully know what the organization did, but she was inspired by the people in her church community who were connected to it. She was accepted—and had no idea that the next eight months would become some of the most transformative of her life, challenging her views on privilege, race, socioeconomic disadvantage, and education.

“We’re still for the East End, and our teachers have a heart for our families and community. But it’s doing so with a new level of professionalism, It’s making sure the t’s are crossed and the i’s are dotted, and I believe God is honoring the excellence we’re bringing to how we operate.” 

That intern was Courtney (Harvey) Barber, now Rise Academy’s Science Teacher, Faculty Advisor to Chapel, and the 2024–2025 Teacher of the Year.

“Church Hill and the East End have my heart, and that’s because of the community I experienced as an intern at CHAT,” Courtney says. “When I moved back to Richmond after working for Teach For America and at my church in Memphis, I saw that a school called Rise Academy was looking for a science teacher. I wasn’t even looking for teaching jobs, but when I realized Rise was what I had known as CHAT, I thought—this was 22-year-old intern Courtney’s dream job. So I applied and was open to seeing what had changed.”

A few things had changed since 2013. Rise Academy had become a fully accredited school, and staff members no longer had to fundraise their salaries. But much of the community was the same. “I used to babysit some of the students I was teaching when I first came back,” Courtney says. “Murray Withrow, for example, who inspired me to apply to the internship, was still involved with students.”Most importantly, Courtney realized that the heart of the organization

Most importantly, Courtney realized that the heart of the organization hadn’t changed. “For me, what Rise Academy is doing today is still a form of ministry—it’s meeting people where they are,” she explains. students are so talented but sometimes they don’t even realize it,” she says. “I’m trying to build up their confidence and remind them they can get into so many schools, even ones that weren’t on their radar.”

“We’re still for the East End, and our teachers have a heart for our families and community. But it’s doing so with a new level of professionalism, It’s making sure the t’s are crossed and the i’s are dotted, and I believe God is honoring the excellence we’re bringing to how we operate.” 

Courtney’s heart for service also shines through her leadership in Rise Academy’s weekly chapel service, where the entire school community gathers for worship. With student “chaplains” helping to select scripture and songs, chapel has become a meaningful, student-led experience. “When I really started leading chapel in January of 2024, I was following a template.” Courtney says, “but I’ve learned to let go of control and let the Spirit lead. By the end of Easter Chapel, we had 12 students say they wanted to refresh their relationship with God. Even if I do nothing else, leading them to that opportunity might be one of the most important things I could do for them in life.”

Courtney adds, “You can feel God moving at chapel—but you can also feel His Presence daily in our classrooms and through the halls. There are days when I know God is using me and my colleagues to accomplish something that is bigger than any of us could ever ask or imagine… and He’s using Rise Academy to do it.”