On Friday August 29, Charlotte Weng became Lambert’s new Teacher of the Year for the 2025-2026 school year. Her dedication and commitment to helping students stands out. As an important member of the mathematics department, she has served here at Lambert for four years. At Lambert, Ms. Weng has taught Geometry for 9th and 10th graders and Accelerated Advanced Algebra. Thousands of students’ experiences have been shaped by Weng’s presence.
Her love of teaching began in 8th grade, when she attended South Forsyth Middle School’s Career Fair. There had been a push for a new teaching pathway. Mrs. Kim Clapper introduced this new pathway, “Teaching as a Profession”, at Lambert, to encourage students to try and learn about how to teach, coach, and train in education.
“I honestly got into the teaching pathway as a student on a complete whim, ” Weng recalled. “I really laugh at that now because it did sound fun and easy, and teaching is super fun, but it’s not always easy.”
In her years as a student at Lambert, she realized the teaching profession was what she wanted to do. During that time, she student-taught at Johns Creek Elementary, shadowing, teaching and assisting, cementing her decision to be a teacher. Aside from this, the teaching pathway at Lambert was not the only influence on her decision to be a teacher.
“Mr. Ryan Wason…taught me four years in a row,” Weng reflected. “He just showed me what it meant to build really valuable relationships with my students. He gave me a lot of opportunities to teach in class, and I taught music to my peers throughout his chorus class.”
Other teachers at Lambert also impacted Weng deeply, such as Mrs. Teresa Swinehart, who knew Weng “was good at seeing how other people think”. For her, that push shaped her high school years, her major and focus in college and her profession in adulthood. She chose the teaching as a profession pathway at Lambert, continued her education in college, and chose to teach at Lambert. At the University of Georgia, she majored in mathematics education, minoring in public policy and management.
“I actually worked a corporate job in college as an intern for Pearson, the textbook company, and I was writing and editing math test questions,” Weng mentioned.
She included her view about other possible jobs, had she not become a teacher, here at Lambert. She thinks that if teaching was not an option, she may have worked a corporate job, possibly in education, like some of her other friends do. Weng was awarded Teacher of the Year for many reasons besides teaching, such as coaching, supporting and advising students in other ways.
“I joke that I wear a lot of hats,” Weng states. “I’m an advisor for Key Club and I’m also new to coaching this year, but I’m going to be the JV basketball cheer coach, which I’m very excited about. I’m the geometry content team lead, which means I help organize and maintain our team of geometry teachers.”
In addition, Weng thinks of herself as a support coach, giving students a chance to learn and understand past just the classroom. As someone who spends so much time and effort helping students and staff, it is no surprise that she received Teacher of the Year, after only four years of hard work and teaching at Lambert.
“It’s such an incredible honor and incredibly humbling, because I think we have both the best teachers and the best students in the world at Lambert,” Weng exclaimed. “So to have the opportunity to represent all of us means the world to me. I’m very excited!”
Lambert congratulates her on her nomination, and hopes that she reaches farther into her career, helping students one at a time. Her Teacher of The Year Award is duly deserved, and is representative of her career here at Lambert.
