Vicksburg-native Tamakki Parson Burks, said it’s a pleasure working with and giving back to her own community.

For the past four years, she’s been teaching sixth-grade math at South Park Elementary, and she said being from the area helps because she already knows some of the students.

“I have a degree in accounting,” she said. “I’m a numbers person.”

Burks earned her associate degree in general studies from Hinds Community College, her bachelor’s degree in accounting from Jackson Statue University and her master’s degree in elementary education from Alcorn Statue University.

“Teaching math comes fairly easy,” she said. “They understand it, and they seem to enjoy it.”

Burks said she teaches because she enjoys seeing students learn.

“It gives me pleasure when I see that light bulb go off, and it seems like the really understand the concept,” she said.

Burks said she really enjoys being able to help the students raise their test scores from the beginning of the year to the end of the year.

“I enjoy seeing the growth being made from the beginning of the year and seeing the end result,” she said. “I bribe them with parties or whatever, anything to make them try their hardest.”

Burks said she enjoys traveling and spending time with her family when she’s not at work.

“When I’m not teaching I’m at home with my daughter, Tiana,” she said. “She’s 15 months.”

Burks said she is also a newlywed.

“I have a new husband, W.L. Burks Jr., to take care of,” she said.

Even when Burks isn’t at school, she still spends some of her time teaching, she said.

“I teach (Tiana) new things with her numbers,” she said. “I know she can’t talk yet, but I’m so proud at the fact that you can ask her how old she is and she’ll hold up the finger one.”

Tiana watches an educational DVD to supplement her early education, Burks said.
“Actually I started teaching her numbers when she was three months old,” she said. “I refuse to be teaching math and my own child not even know numbers.”

Burks said she loves going on cruises, ever since she got hooked after her first cruise with her church.

“I’ve been on six, all of them Carnival, in the past seven years,” she said.

During her cruises Burks has visited many exotic locales: Cozumel, Bahamas, Jamaica, Grand Cayman, Belize and Honduras.

“The last one we went on was last June for our honeymoon,” she said. “Tiana couldn’t go of course, but we plan on taking her this Christmas. We’ll see how that works out.”