“It’s crazy what kids remember,” says Mrs. Stephanie Jones as she describes her 3rd grade teacher, “I don’t remember her first name, but I remember her pretty hair. I remember when my parents were running late picking me up, Ms. Booker waited with me and fed me a hot dog. She’s what inspired me to be a teacher.”
She spent the rest of her adolescent years with the desire to be a teacher, but became sidetracked with nursing once she reached college. Knowing she still wanted to work with kids, she proceeded with pediatric nursing. But during a summer job at Dekalb Medical, she looked around and realized she didn’t like her surroundings. “I was there and I didn’t like what I saw or what I was doing and other nurses would come up to me and say, ‘How are you going to be a nurse when you can’t handle everything that comes with it?’ And I knew they were right because I wanted to be a teacher!”
Mrs. Jones has been teaching for 23 years now and has loved every moment of it. She teaches everyday with the hope that she’s helped them in their school work and encouraged them in whatever they set their minds to. “No matter what a child does, you have to remember to plant that seed and encourage them even when they don’t believe in themselves.”
In the 7 years since I’ve had Mrs. Jones as a teacher, not much has changed. She still has an amazing, welcoming attitude and love for teaching that has not only earned her the Teacher of the Year award but also the hearts of every student she’s taught. It’s great to know that despite the changes that have happened in the school and the obstacles that she has faced, she’s still the role model that teaches kids to keep going forward, no matter what life brings your way. “You never know what is going to happen, so make everyday count and never let go.”
