This article is part of a series by The Vicksburg Post, in partnership with the Vicksburg-Warren County Chamber of Commerce, featuring each of the Educator of the Year nominees.

 

St. Francis Xavier kindergarten teacher Amy Jackson believes the key to a successful classroom is the pairing of learning and fun.

“Our children are now in school 14 years before deciding if they would like to continue their education in a trade or college. That’s a lot of school,” Jackson said. “If they are going to be in school that long, I think school should be as fun as we can make it.”

Jackson is a finalist for the Vicksburg-Warren County Chamber of Commerce’s Educator of the Year award.

The Chamber will select and announce one elementary and one secondary teacher of the year at the chamber luncheon on Feb. 17. The winner of each award will receive $1,000 from Ameristar Casino and the runner-up for each award will receive $500 from Mutual Credit Union.

Jackson received an associate’s degree in general studies at Hinds Community College before completing a bachelor’s degree in English at the University of Southern Mississippi.

She has worked in education for seven years. She was a pre-school teacher at Crawford Street UMC Playschool for six years, and in August 2019, she began teaching kindergarten at St. Francis. 

“I teach because these children are the future and light up of my life,” she wrote in her Educator of the Year application.

Jackson has a unique approach to learning in her kindergarten class. She believes school can be an exciting place for children if approached the right way.

“If children are having fun at school and want to be there, they are going to learn what you teach them, sometimes without them even noticing. If they know you are in their corner and want to see them do their best, and are willing to help them do that, they are willing to try whatever you give them,” she said. “I feel it is more important to praise a child’s growth, social or academic than to praise the 100 on a paper.”