In 2000, Ricky Latimore walked down the halls to his 5th grade classroom at Washington Park Elementary School in Jasper County for the first time.

Latimore’s teacher, Andrea Dowdy, made a significant impact on him during that school year as he traversed through some tough times in his life.

Several months later, Latimore left his 5th grade classroom at Washington Park Elementary for summer break. It was the last time he saw Dowdy.

As Latimore grew older, he would often think about Dowdy, and the impact she made on him growing up as a child.

“I would often sit on my couch at home and she would just pop up in my mind,” Latimore said. “You know, just faint images of her face. I could just remember being safe, because that’s something you never forget.”

Fast forward to 2024, Latimore is now a teacher in his own right. He is a 4th grade teacher at Flint Hill Elementary School. 

Latimore attended a professional development session just days before the new school year kicked off. When he saw the speaker of the session, he turned to the person next to him.

“I asked the person beside me… ‘What is the presenter’s name?’ and she said Andrea Dowdy,” Latimore said. “And then I thought to myself, ‘It can’t be.’”

But in fact, it was. After many thousands of days apart, Latimore and Dowdy were reunited, now both as educators in the Newton County School System.

Originally, Dowdy did not know this. When Dowdy began to share her prior teaching experience, she shared that she had previously been a 5th grade teacher.  

Without hesitation, Latimore interrupted, asking, “In Jasper County?”

Standing confused, Dowdy confirmed his former student’s question as true. At that moment, this was when Latimore knew he had been reunited with one of his former teachers.

“Warmth flooded my body and tears just started coming from my eyes and then I told her ‘You were my 5th grade teacher. I’m Ricky Latimore.’” Latimore said. “When I said that she recognized me immediately and she walked up to me, put her hands on my face and she embraced like she did back when I was 10 years old in her class.”

The moment moved everyone in the room with Latimore repeating the words, “I never forgot you.”

Latimore posted the video on his Facebook page hours later, garnering over 1 million plays and thousands of shares. People from all across the country witnessed the moment that Latimore and Dowdy shared.

But to Latimore, Dowdy was not just a teacher. She was a hero.

Latimore recalled growing up in poverty as a child. He often wore ripped or torn clothes that were not properly washed. 

That, combined with his self-proclaimed insecurities as a child, resulted in Latimore being bullied in school.

“I just remember you know, kids were vicious,” Latimore said. “I was already shy [and] insecure, but you had this tall, big kid walking with his head down. And the reason why I did that is because if I didn’t put my head up, I couldn’t see people looking at me [or] laughing about me.”

But Latimore knew that Dowdy’s class was a safe space as evident from one encounter Dowdy had with another student.

“A student was picking at him and making fun of him because of how he dressed,” Dowdy said. “I can specifically remember how I had to call that mom and the mom was like ‘Oh no ma’am, my son does not do that. [I said] Oh yes ma’am he does. And what he’s doing is in my classroom and making my classroom not a safe place. So we’re gonna have to fix that.’”

That feeling of safety resonated with Latimore as a young child, and once again as an adult when the two reunited.

“I knew that once I got into Mrs. Dowdy’s class when I was dealing with being bullied on the bus, bullying in the breakfast line as I walked up the hallway, if I could just get in her class, I would be OK,” Latimore said. “I think when I realized when it was confirmed this was her that’s what I was flooded with. That same feeling of safety and security.”

The reunited duo do not plan to go another 23 years without seeing each other. 

In fact, Dowdy has offered to serve as a mentor for Latimore for the 2024-25 school year and beyond. This rang true after a recent visit from Dowdy at Latimore’s classroom at Flint Hill, when she decorated his bulletin board after he needed to leave.

“I had to go and pick up my son from daycare and she saw me on the phone and said ‘Go ahead and go Ricky. Go ahead and go,’” Latimore said. “I was like, ‘No I just can’t leave you here.’ … And just like she would when I was in 5th grade she gave me that look. She said, ‘Ricky!’ And I knew at that moment, let me grab my adult backpack and walk out that door.”

As the school year progresses and the two make up for lost time, an important lesson can be learned from this ordeal – That the work of educators does not go in vain.

“If I’m not mistaken this was a record number year where teachers left the school system. And it’s because it’s not an easy task and, you know, it comes with little reward,” Latimore said. “However, I think seeing Mrs. Dowdy, Mrs. Dowdy is a symbol. She’s a symbol of perseverance. And to show that if you just stick in there, there’s going to be fruit that’s going to be produced. And the fruit is going to come in the lives of the students.

“It’s not gonna happen overnight. It’s not gonna happen in a few months. It’s gonna take years. But at some point, those little boys and girls are going to become men and women who are going to be fortified and strengthened because they had educators that stood by them. And honestly, that’s what we’re called to offer to the world.

“Educators need to know that they’re real life superheroes with powers to change the world. But it comes by persevering and parting that goodness they have on the inside.”