Jake Roth, MTC Class of 2005, has been named Teacher of the Year for Jim Hill High School.  “Jake is one of a kind,” said Mrs. Lydia Haynes, the Principal of Jim Hill.  “He is innovative, he gets the students excited about learning, and he has been great on classroom management from Day One.  I know he is good because the students hate to be called out of his class.”

Asked about the nomination Mr. Roth said, "I feel silly taking credit for something that everyone should do -- and that many people around me do.  Teachers don't work in a vacuum; we have significant others, colleagues, administrators, students, et al that make our lives meaningful.”

(Mr. Roth's Classroom)

“Jake has worked very hard and has really embraced our philosophy of making a difference, one child at a time, said Ben Guest, the Program Manager for the Mississippi Teacher Corps.  “In addition to doing a great job in the classroom Jake has helped start several afterschool clubs, including a Civil Rights/Civil Liberties Club, a reading club, and a board-game club.  He is now working with Princeton Review to start an ACT Prep program at Jim Hill.”

“I'm good at making things happen,” said Mr. Roth.  “I've been put in a position to do just that.  The award makes it official, but the students make it real.  Otherwise, I'm just some liberal white Yankee with fancy phrases and a beard.”

“I’m not surprised,” said Dr. Germain McConnell, the Co-Director of the Teacher Corps.  “We’re very proud of Jake.  He has done a great job in the classroom, and as a representative of the Teacher Corps.”

“Last year at Jim Hill High School another one of our teachers, Michael Baacke, was named Teacher of the Year,” said Mr. Guest.  “Jake is the first one from the Class of 2005 to be named Teacher of the Year.  I don’t think he will be the last.”

(Jim Hill High School)

The Mississippi Teacher Corps is the most competitive alternate-route teaching program in the country. It is a two-year program that recruits recent college graduates to teach in critical-shortage areas in the Mississippi Delta, in exchange for a full scholarship for a master's degree in curriculum and instruction from the University of Mississippi. The program was founded in 1989 by Amy Gutman, a Harvard University graduate student, and Dr. Andy Mullins, then Special Assistant to the State Superintendent of Education. Since 1989 more than 350 participants, reaching an estimated 70,000 students, have taught in critical-needs school districts as part of the Mississippi Teacher Corps.

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