What are you doing now? What have you been doing since MTC?

I am teaching social studies for my 5th year in Mississippi at the Burnsville Junior
High & Middle School in Tishomingo County. I recently found out this year that I
passed my National Board Examination. I also am a school bus driver which is a part -time job with a full-time amount of responsibility and headaches, but I really enjoy
it to becuase it helps get my day going and it's a time for me to spend with students
of different ages and listen to them carry on about life. Every one should listen to
kindergarteners talk to each other when they do not know you are listening. It's a
solid joy.

What was the greatest reward of being a part of the Mississippi Teacher Corps?

The greatest reward of being a part of the Mississippi Teacher Corp is
simply the opportunity to become a teacher. When I became a teacher I became a
different thing. I am not a teacher only between 7:30 and 3:05, 185 days out of a
year. I am a teacher all the time, at the grocery store, at the movies, in
restuarants, in church, and most definitely in Walmart, but I love that becuase being
a teacher makes me a better person.

What was the biggest challenge?

The biggest challenge for me while I was in MTC was dealing building an appropriate
respect for community and school relationships. I wanted the school to be built up on
the hill and that the town send us their children and not mettle with our work.
Communities and even parents were unknown variables that I did not want to invite into
my classroom. But I have realized that this silly idea was not realistic with the
world we live in and that while sometimethings do not go as plan there can be great
benefit to the students and to the community by opening up the doors a little and
allowing people to reinvest in a communities most important institution. Schools are
the community. They are often the unifying experiance with entire generations sharing
memories of some local legendary principal or notorious bus driver. Our job is not to
create test takers, but to help students become successful people. And why do we want
them to be successful if its not so they can be positive role models for others in
their community so that together we can drive poverty and social delimas out of town.

How has MTC impacted your life?

The impact of MTC on my life is unmeasurable. I will be an educator for the rest of
my life and I owe MTC the opportunity to do that. I owe MTC the friendships of
several close friends that I met in the program. MTC is more than a graduate program,
it is a doorway into the lives of children and a career of purpose.

The Mississippi Teacher Corps is the most competitive teaching program in the country. The two-year program, designed for non-education majors, recruits college graduates to teach in the Mississippi Delta and offers a host of benefits, including teacher training and certification, a full scholarship for a master's degree in education, job placement that includes full pay and benefits and, most importantly, the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of students in one of the poorest areas of the country.