Describe your current role.
I am currently the librarian at Oxford Middle School. I purchase and promote books to our students and attempt to get kids who don’t like to read interested in a book. I actively teach a lesson with most of our ELA classes every other week. We might do a lesson connected to a novel they are reading in class or do a brain teaser to challenge them to think. We have a “Frequent Flyer” group that meets in the library every morning to read together. They are a joy to talk books with. I also have a Puzzle Club that meets in the library and puts together jigsaw puzzles on Thursdays.
How did you know this was your passion?
I did not know teaching was my passion until a few years into a marketing career. I worked for a newspaper selling and designing advertisements. I was doing well, but I knew the job was not for me long-term. Both of my parents were teachers and coaches and I recognized in myself the skills that I had seen in them growing up. I returned to school to become a teacher. I have taught young people for over 32 years in different capacities: preschool, elementary, middle school, high school, Christian Education youth groups, and now as a librarian.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?
My husband has taught me to be persistent and to persevere when times are tough. He often says, “We are going to force this square peg into this round hole no matter how many times we have to smack it.” It’s a funny way to say it, but it’s always the first thing that pops into my head when I feel like I can’t take another step.
What has been your best career moment?
Oxford Elementary, at one point, housed a children’s museum called The Oxploratorium. It was created by two local women, Lele Gillespie and Nancy Watson. I was fortunate to get to teach in the Oxploratorium for five years. The museum had a grocery store, a post office, a doctor’s office, and a kitchen. We did hands-on lessons for kids in making change, reading nutrition labels, writing letters, etc. It was not a job: I got to “play and teach” every single day. I still run into kids – now adults – who exclaim passionately, “OH! You’re that lady who ran the pizza restaurant at school and we had to do tax and tip!”
What is your hometown?
Oxford, Mississippi
What are your hobbies?
I like to read, of course. I enjoy baking sweets and desserts. My niece, Chloe, frequently sends me an “I challenge you to make this” recipe. My mother taught me to needlepoint and I enjoy making things for friends and family.
What is your go-to binge-watch?
I love The Chosen and 1923.
What is your last good read?
I try to always be in a faith-based book and a book for entertainment. I just finished God on Mute by Pete Greig. It was an intriguing book about seemingly unanswered prayer. For fun, I just finished The Chocolate Maker’s Wife by Karen Brooks, a piece of historical fiction.
What is your favorite meal in Oxford?
My husband and I either pick up and go to Handy Andy every Friday night. The cheeseburger cannot be beat.
