I am APS is a special series highlighting students, faculty, alumni, and others in celebration of the rich and diverse experiences, backgrounds and contributions within the Atlanta Public Schools family. Together, we stand in solidarity of our shared admiration of APS and the mission which guides us. #IamAPS
Heritage Academy’s vision is to become a school that equips all students for the demands and opportunities of the twenty-first century. Striving to build a community of excellent readers, dynamic mathematicians, critical thinkers, and responsible citizens dedicated to making our community a better place to live.
Carter Crowder and Ja’Kayla Smith are well-rounded students who check all those boxes.
Carter, 10, is in fourth grade at Heritage Academy and is a highly motivated student. Driven by a competitive spirit, Carter wants to be a professional football player in the NFL or an engineer when he grows up.
Ja’Kayla, 11, has a quieter demeanor, but she’s involved in a little bit of everything at Heritage Academy. Her favorite part of school is being part of the various clubs like debate, art, beta and chess clubs. As a fifth grader, Ja’Kayla is a hard-working student and has clear goals like earning distinguished on the Georgia Milestones test.
Carter and Ja’Kayla were also key members of Heritage Academy’s reading bowl team. Both students spoke with us to share what they love about their school and APS.
 Carter Crowder Q&A:
Q: What is your favorite part of being in school?
A: My favorite part is when we do extracurricular things like sports. My favorite sports are football, basketball, and baseball. I’m the best at football. I like to play receiver, quarterback and running back. I also like to play cornerback on defense.
Q: What is your favorite subject?
A: My favorite subject is math. I like to problem solve and answer questions. It’s always been my favorite subject. It never changed over the years. I just like doing math.
Q: What do you want to be when you grow up:
A: I want to be an NFL player, but if I want to start an actual career, I want to be an engineer. It requires math and I also like to build things and be creative. I like to practice on Legos and stuff. The coolest thing I’ve built was a pirate ship, and I put it on my dresser. I think that math is helping me become an engineer. And to be an NFL player, you have to practice and do extracurricular things like football.
Q: How have your teachers and classmates helped you?
A: I think me and my classmates make good connections. If I need help on a question or with a teacher, the teacher will come help me and give me tips on how to get the question right the next time and understand it more. I get help from classmates by asking what mistakes I made. My school is a caring, fun, and very hard-working and willing to learn school.
Ja’Kayla Smith Q&A:
Q: What do you enjoy the most at school?
A: My favorite part about this school is the various clubs. I’m in chess club, and I like the challenge of it and how it’s a mind game. I’m also in debate, beta club and I’m in gifted classes. I was also in speech club last year.
Q: Who is your favorite teacher?
A: Ms. Brown, she teaches gifted classes. I want to say she’s the person who runs the beta club and the debate team at our school. She does a little bit of everything.
Q: What was something you were excited to learn?
A: I was excited to learn about forensic science. We got to learn about cases, and I also like fingerprints. We get to do a lot of fingerprint art in forensic science.
Q: How would you describe Heritage Academy?
A: It’s a very hard-working community. It has very nice teachers. It shows a lot of equity and it’s ethical. The staff is very hard-working.
