Math Professor Tammy Racer has been teaching Laurel Ridge Community College students in Luray and Page County since even before the college had its own center in the community.
Professor Racer was teaching math at Luray High School when then-Laurel Ridge President John “Ski” Sygielski visited to talk to potential students about taking Laurel Ridge classes being held at the high school about 22 years ago.
“I walked in and said, ‘I want to teach for you – how do I do that?’” she recalled asking him. “It sounded really amazing. Dr. Ski would say things so well, he was so excited, I thought, I want to do that, too! And, he was right, it is exciting. Next thing I know, I’m talking to Professor Mike Garrand and leading developmental math classes in Luray.”
Once the Luray-Page County Center opened on Hawksbill Street, Professor Racer’s Laurel Ridge math classes moved there. A 36-year teaching veteran, Professor Racer has worked as an adjunct all this time, and currently teaches math and science at a middle school in Gainesville, while also teaching online quantitative reasoning classes for Laurel Ridge.
Once she retires from her public school role and gives up her daily commute – which she anticipates doing at the end of the 2026-27 school year – Professor Racer plans to teach in-person classes at the LPCC.
“I love the flexibility of teaching for Laurel Ridge,” she said. “We’re not micromanaged. You know what you need to do, and then you just make it happen.”
She also likes the wide range of students Laurel Ridge educates.
“You never know who’ll be walking in our doors,” said Professor Racer. “They want to be here and they want to learn. Most of them are scared to death of math, and by the time I’m done, they’re comfortable. It’s so much fun to see them transform like that.”
And, Jenkins Hall, which opened five years ago, is wonderful, according to Professor Racer.
“So many people are taking classes there and going in and saying, ‘Yes, I can do this,’” she said. “It gives them a sense of pride. They want to take care of it and use it and do really good things with it. I would like to see it used even more. I love that we’re offering the Physical Therapist Assistant Program there.”
The Rileyville native said she wishes Laurel Ridge dual-enrollment classes had been available to her when she was in high school.
“And, I wish it had been around more predominantly when my kids were coming through,” she said.
Both of her children have attended Laurel Ridge, Professor Racer said. One took credit classes, while the other earned his CDL license and now works for an excavating company in Warrenton.
“He loves it,” she said.
Professor Racer added several of her cousins have also completed the CDL program, and “one of them has his own business as a result of it.”
In addition to giving to the Laurel Ridge community through her teaching, Professor Racer has made several quilts for the college. One she donated to a fundraising event in Page County, and another – this one made out of college T-shirts – she gave to President Emerita Cheryl Thompson-Stacy at her retirement.
“That was fun because the whole campus was sneaking shirts, sending them to me in the mail,” Professor Racer said.
Laurel Ridge Community College was known as Lord Fairfax Community College until June 2022. For consistency purposes, the college will be referenced as Laurel Ridge going forward.