Connie Singleton-Murphy
BUILDING A LEGACY OF LOVE, SUPPORT, AND SCIENCE
story by JENNIFER BROWN-CARPENTER photos by SUSAN DELOACH
Connie Singleton-Murphy is a native Beaufortonian, born in the Lowcountry and raised here by her parents, Inez and Julius Singleton Sr. She attended Beaufort County schools from elementary to high school. She also took courses at the University of South Carolina in Beaufort for her college education, before graduating from the College of Charleston with a Bachelor of Arts in Biology. She got her Masters of Arts degree in Science Teaching from the University of South Carolina. She also received a certificate in Leadership and Supervision from Cambridge University.
Education was always very important to Connie while she was growing up — stemming from her relationship with her mother, a teacher. She naturally gravitated to her mother’s teaching style and even assisted her. While most girls were playing with dolls, Connie was grading papers and pretending to be a teacher. Her father, Julius, was a painter, and, unfortunately, he passed away when Connie was in the 8th grade. Connie’s siblings were some of the first black students to integrate into the Beaufort County School District in the 1960s. Her grandfather, Ned Singleton, was also one of the first black educators in the area.
Connie has been a teacher for over 35 years in the Beaufort County School District. She has always taught science, while substituting in other classes, such as reading and math, when necessary.
Science can be challenging for students. Connie has had struggling learners for almost her entire teaching career. She aims to reach these students and assist them in learning the material. She spends time praying, asking the Lord to help her reach each of her students and meet their individual needs. Connie enjoys finding new and unique ways to teach the science curriculum to her students while meeting the individual student’s needs and the class as a whole. Five years into her teaching career, she came up with creative ideas for teaching her students: songs, claps, and unique ways to break down the long and challenging words. She still uses those same methods and has added more. During the COVID-19 shutdown and beyond, she has recorded some of these songs and will be recording more soon. Some of her former students helped her with this project. Caleb and Abigail Henry helped create videos for the songs, while David Givens helped find background music to accompany her lyrics. Cicely Givens, David’s mother, and Connie’s pastor, pushed Connie to record the songs, as she knew that Connie had been creating them for some time.
She has songs relating to the digestive system, the water cycle, the rock cycle, an introduction to chemistry, and an introduction to the elements on the periodic chart. Connie created these songs based on the problems her students were facing.
Connie says that she has always had what seems like endless energy when it comes to teaching. “Their energy drives my energy, and middle schoolers have endless energy,” she laughs. Her goal is to support her students, not only in the classroom but also in their lives outside of the classroom. She attends their sporting events and musical activities, trying to be involved with them, and makes them feel loved and supported.
It has always been important to Connie and her family to stay in touch with the community and with their rich Gullah culture. Her sister, Anita Singleton-Prather (Aunt Pearlie Sue), is a Gullah storyteller who has shared so much of her research with her siblings.
This background is part of what motivates Connie to volunteer in so many different areas. She has participated in theater and choir, just by volunteering and contributing whatever she could. “I am not a singer. I am an edutainer,” Connie says.
“This is the first year I am feeling tired due to the lack of teachers in the area. We have responsibilities that fall on the ‘veterans’ of the area. But if I can just get two or three days to rest, I always come back ready,” Connie says. “Once I hit the campus, all tiredness dissipates.”
Connie worked a summer job with the Beaufort County Recreation Department (PALS) as a summer camp counselor, Junior and Senior counselor, and then the coordinator. Eventually, the school she was working at changed to a year-round school, and she had to give up that position.
Connie was married to the late Darryl Murphy, a historian and a lover of Gullah culture. Connie has one son, Wesley Murphy, who grew up in the Beaufort County School District and is now a USC graduate as of 2020. He is currently at boot camp with the United States Coast Guard. She has always had a motherly instinct and is thankful that her son shared her with so many students who have become like her children as well.
Connie Singleton-Murphy’s teaching career has not been an easy journey, but it has been worthwhile. “I have overcome many obstacles. I have viewed my career as my ministry, and that has carried me beyond the obstacles I have faced. My payment comes in the fruits I see from the seeds I have planted over the last 35 years.”
