By Gil Pound 

A nyone asking for Ms. Kitchens at Tattnall Square Academy this year is probably going to be met with a question – which one? 

Misty Kitchens (’01) has been molding kindergarten minds at the Macon, Georgia, private school since 2009. Her daughter, Maddie Kitchens (’25), joined the Tattnall Square faculty this year as a middle/high school science teacher after graduating from Georgia College & State University last December. 

“It’s a full-circle moment where maybe I didn’t know it was a dream, but at the end of the day it’s what dreams are made of,” said Misty, who is in her 26th year teaching. 

Both alumnae are thrilled to be together on their teaching journey.  

“It’s really sweet, obviously,” said Maddie. “My mom has taught a lot of the kids I have now. I like knowing she is right down the hallway if I need anything.” 

Despite coming from a family of nurses, mom Misty says she knew she wanted to be a teacher since she was in the first grade. She entered Georgia College as an early childhood education major, now called the elementary education major, in the John H. Lounsbury College of Education. 

“It was the first program around this area that was actually giving hands-on experience by putting us in real classrooms,” Misty said. “I feel like that prepared me so well.” 

Misty is a product of GCSU’s cohort-based education programs that create a supportive learning environment, allowing students to build strong relationships with faculty and peers while progressing through their coursework together. Field experiences, clinical practice, mentorship and leadership opportunities let education students connect what they learn in the classroom to the realities of the profession.

Daughter Maddie began her time at Georgia College on the same elementary education track as her mother, but later decided to shift her major to English. Teaching was always the end goal, just with an older set of pupils. Before entering the full-time workforce, her first six months out of college were spent working in the Disney College Program. 

Upon returning home, Maddie sent a resume to her high school alma mater Tattnall Square, just hoping to pick up some substitute teaching work to get her foot in the door. A door unexpectedly opened just before the start of the 2026-27 academic year as the school had a science teaching vacancy. Even though her degree was in English, Maddie felt comfortable saying yes. 

“I had really good professors, both when I was an education and an English major,” she said. “I never questioned my ability to teach well because I felt really confident in what I had learned at GCSU.”  

With two teachers in the Kitchens household, family dinner discussions have shifted from a father and son dominating the conversation with sports talk to a new topic.  

“Now it’s teacher talk at the table,” Misty said. 

Header Image: Maddie Kitchens ('25), at left, and her mom Misty Kitchens ('01) both teach at Tattnall Square Academy in Macon. (Photo: Gil Pound)