JMS honors Employees of the Month
Published 8:57 pm Tuesday, October 13, 2009
By David Seale
Jemison Middle School commended several teachers with its Employee of the Month award. For the month of August, 8th grade teachers Karen Hayes and Christy Popwell were given the honor. According to the nominating staff member, Hayes and Popwell went “above and beyond their job descriptions” in preparing the school’s Continuous Improvement Plan over the summer. Their efforts allowed JMS to receive Title I funding.
For the month of September, special education teacher and department head Laurie Marcus received the EOM award. “For [Marcus], school doesn’t end at 3 o’clock,” according to the teacher who nominated her. Along with working with several teachers every day and with students with needs, “she expresses a positive outlook on learning, and passes it on to her students.”
The EOM for October is 6th grade reading teacher Sandra Millard. An exceptional educator in every sense of the word, Millard is “a great listener, an honest team player, and the 6th grade leader when the grade level is planning,” states the nominating teacher. The former cheerleading sponsor and current Public Relations Committee member, Millard has also been instrumental in helping new teachers adapt to JMS every year.
“We are very fortunate to have such an incredible staff,” Jemison Middle School principal Mark Knight said. “And these four are perfect examples of our school’s commitment to student learning.”
In other JMS news, the Jemison Middle School football team scored its largest margin of victory of the season on Sept. 29 at Marbury, winning 44-14. Tyler Henderson, Randy Satterfield, Austin Chapman, John Underwood, and Jacob Hatch all had touchdowns, with Satterfield rolling up 145 all-purpose yards and Chapman gaining 90 yards rushing. The team played Calera at home on Oct. 13 and will finish the season with its homecoming game against Marbury on Oct. 20.
The JMS volleyball team finished the season exceptionally strong with a third, dominating win over Thorsby on Sept. 28 and a key away victory against Isabella on Oct. 1, avenging their in-school match loss from earlier in the season. The young team finished the year 6-6, an impressive record from a group with only two returning starters.
– David Seale is an assistant principal at Jemison Middle School.
