By Lanell Downs Smith

Crenshaw Christian Academy (CCA) Headmaster Becky Baggett received the distinction of membership in the Alabama Independent School Association (AISA) Hall of Fame last week and was inducted into the association’s Class of 2024 during a ceremony held Dec. 9 at Wynlakes Country Club in Montgomery.

Baggett was one of the nine educators honored at the banquet. Inductees received the distinction of becoming Hall of Fame members alongside over 120 others honored since the hall’s inception in 2000.

“Organizers name a certain number for each class,” Baggett said. “They don’t do it every year and it is quite an honor.”

Inductees included Jim Arrington, retired; Russ Brown, retired; Bob Taylor from Clarke Prep School; Dr. Pat Taylor, retired; Buz Phillips, Edgewood Academy; Rob Robinson, Morgan Academy; Jimmy Holliman, Alabama Cattlemen’s Association and Keith Taylor with Championship Trophy and Sporting Goods.

Baggett said she served on the AISA board of directors for 10 years and the athletic committee for seven. 

“It’s very humbling because you really don’t feel like you deserve the honor,” she said. “When you see all the people that have gotten [the honor] over the years, you just don’t feel like you deserve it.”

Hall of Fame members include teachers, administrators, coaches, board members and others who have distinguished themselves through their work with AISA schools. Among those previously honored from CCA are Theresa Johnson (2003), John Wise, Sr. (2007) and Angela Carpenter (2015).

Inspired by her junior high physical education (PE) teacher, Peggy Cox, Baggett set her sights on inspiring students and making a difference in their lives.

“She taught us so much we had never [experienced] before,” Baggett said. “I decided I wanted to be a school teacher, just like her.”

Baggett began her career in education in August 1976 as a PE teacher at Dozier Elementary. She worked there for 25 years before transferring to Ashford Academy where she taught for a couple of years before becoming the headmaster.

“I was the first PE teacher Dozier ever had, and I got to build the program from the ground up,” Baggett said. “I built one like she had. My kids loved PE and that’s what I wanted to achieve.”

A tenure as assistant headmaster, then headmaster at Pike Liberal Arts in Troy, where she developed their tennis program, preceded her addition as headmaster at CCA.

“It’s always been about inspiring kids to want to do things,” Baggett said. “As long as I could make a difference in their lives, which I hope I have done along the way. You just try to make a difference because for many kids, you don’t know what type of environment they come from.”

Baggett plans to retire from CCA at the end of this school year, but said she will always support the school where she completed her career as an educator.

“I will always be a Cougar, for the rest of my life, and support them,” Baggett said.”

Becky and her husband, Kenny, plan a 50th anniversary trip to Alaska after retirement. She hopes to renovate her mother’s house to become a bed and breakfast and also pursue the hobby of metal working.

“You can’t get much done on weekends,” Baggett said. “I’ve got a lot of projects to do.”