Photo: TikTok
The administration even erased her students’ goodbye messages they left on her classroom’s board.
By Ethan Cotler — Written on Apr 18, 2023
Pushing back against your superiors in any profession can be challenging. Even if you’re right, they still control your experience at the institution. So, many people choose to be silent in the face of adversity to keep their job. However, one teacher chose to do the opposite and had harsh consequences.
In a series of videos posted over the last number of months, a teacher is proving that sometimes school administrations fail students by unfairly targeting teachers beloved by their class.
A middle school teacher who went viral on TikTok has been getting support from students after she was fired.
Maddie Richardson is a middle school science teacher who posts education-oriented content under “Miss R” to the video-sharing app TikTok. Recently, she shared an emotional video explaining that her school had fired her. She clarified that her firing was not because of reprehensible conduct but because she lashed back against the administration.
“I just got fired from being a teacher. I did not do anything wrong, illegal or put the kids in any danger,” she said. “I did push back against authority.”
Through tears, she explained her school was cold with how they handled her exit. They didn’t let her say goodbye to her students, and she couldn’t even return to campus to gather her belongings when students were there. Her final visit required supervision!
“I was told I could go back and get my things on a ‘supervised’ day’ when no students are there,” she wrote on top of the video. She used the video to reach out to her students to share her feelings and goodbyes.
“My students, I love you. I promise to make a more formal goodbye,” she said.
She concluded the video by telling them she won’t be at school the next day. So, it seems like her firing was very sudden. Luckily, some of her students and parents saw the video and shared their support in the comments.
“Khiya and Mikayla’s mom here. What can we do for you? You are by far, the best teacher my children have had. May I ask what the reasoning was? I am so sorry!!” one parent wrote.
Miss R responded that she appreciated the support but did not divulge details of her dispute with the administration.
“Hi miss r, it’s marley, I know this is hard but you were always there for me when I needed you so we are here for you. Remember your quote. We love u,” one student wrote. She replied, telling her to “stand tall.”
The administration erased students’ goodbye messages to her.
In a follow-up video, she recorded herself packing up her belongings. Her students left her sweet goodbye messages on her classroom’s board, but the administration erased them before she could see them. And when Miss R did arrive on campus on an early Saturday morning, the entire administration and school board were there to supervise her exit.
But her students didn’t give up on showing their support. Several parents and students made signs and marched to protest her firing. They chanted heartfelt messages like “We love you, Miss R,” as they protested with her. They even did one last “hype” together, which is a statement she has her class say out loud before teaching starts to get them excited.
“Remember, today is a new day with a new opportunity to make your world a better place to be,” they chanted in unison. “If you brought any stressors, depressors or anxieties in with you today, I want you to let me know you’ll be with me later and just throw them out the door or throw them out the window because all you have to worry about right now is science and it’s not gonna be that bad.”
Fortunately, Miss R has found employment as a teacher once again. This time she’s teaching high schoolers, and we can be sure she’ll continue to touch their hearts as she did with her middle schoolers.
Ethan Cotler is a writer living in Boston. He writes on entertainment and news.