Two Liberty Technology High School teachers have been selected this week to receive the Outstanding Instructor Award for the region from the Department of the Air Force Junior ROTC. We’ll visit with Major Christopher Honeycutt as he and Master Sargeant Marty Moore were selected to receive regional awards for their exemplary contributions and impact on cadets, Liberty Technology High School, and the community.

With the Teacher of the Year luncheon coming up on May 24th, we're visiting with JCM-ECH’s Dana Helton. Each school recognizes its campus-level Teacher of the Year and three are selected to represent each grade band at the district level. Congratulations to Andrew Jackson’s Deshea Surratt, PreK-4th; East Elementary’s Ann Thompkins, 5th-8th; and JCM-ECH’s Dana Helton 9th-12th. Mrs. Helton teaches Career Exploration and Teaching as a Profession class. The District Teacher of the Year winner will be announced Friday.

This week, we’re going to recap the 3rd ANNUAL JMCSS Gala. Leaders Credit Union and many corporate and community partners made this event possible. Our Superintendent, Dr. Marlon King began the gay-la tradition as a way from business and civic leaders to learn about the great things happening in the Jackson-Madison County School System…students in our fine arts programs perform at this annual event - and the Superintendent provides a state of the school address.

JMCSS is preparing to host, for the first time ever, a district-wide student art show and silent action. We’ll visit with Christy Hays, our districtwide fine arts coordinator to find out how our students are preparing for the big event. Also, the 6th Annual International Festival is coming up. Stephane Williams, ESL Lead Teacher with JMCSS is here to share info on that. Plus we’ll spotlight several student programs, from Biostem to Pharmacy Technicians, and Academic Pentathlon.

For the District Episode 59 spotlights the Jackson Grown Leader Fellowship. We'll hear from Liz Emmons, Program Director for Our Jackson Home magazine and advisor for the fellowship. We'll also visit with three JMCSS students who are preparing to present their speeches to city and county leaders: Mark Owen (Madison Academic), Mark Owen (JCM-ECH), and Ruthie Bray (South Side High School). https://www.ourjacksonhome.com/jacksongrown

Our guest today is Emily Stutts, 5th Grade ELA teacher at Thelma Barker Elementary and director of the districtwide K-8 stage play Annie, Jr. She'll tell us how 37 exuberant students from 11 different schools are preparing to put on a great show for our schools and the community. Show dates are May 16th - 18th at Liberty Technology High School. Visit www.jmcss.org/finearts for the complete cast list.

This week, we’ve invited former West TN Teacher of the Year - Bob Sparks - he’s currently an English Teacher at JCM Early College High. He spent time in Nashville recently to learn more about policies impacting - teachers and students in the state of TN….he’ll tell us about that experience and the importance of civic participation from school district employees….Plus…School Board member Andre Darnell is here to recap his experience at the Student Congress on Policies in Education…Mr. Darnell served as a group leader as a group of students from Liberty Technology High School participated in SCOPE for the 2nd year in a row.

This week, we’ve invited Community Partners from the City of Jackson to share details about several - family-friendly activities happening this spring. Whitney Billingsley will join us for those details. Plus…it’s that time of the year, PreK registration is now open. Kristen Peachy is here to tell us how you can help our youngest learners prepare for their first kindergarten and beyond.

This week, we are spotlighting our Mechatronics program at the Workforce Development Center. This is a great opportunity for students and families to hear how JMCSS is preparing students for careers in Mechanical engineering, electrical/electronics engineering, and computer engineering. We’ll be joined by Jeff Replogle, the Mechatronics Teacher at JCM-Early College High and Michael Patrick, an Early College High School freshman and a star pupil in the Mechatronics program.

Today, we are sharing detailed information concerning the JMCSS Career Fair. This is a great opportunities and educators and professionals from all over West Tennessee to get information about exciting career opportunities within the Jackson-Madison County School System. We’ll be joined by Rekia McClain, Director of Human Capital-Talent Acquisition and Terrance Morris, New Teacher Support Coordinator for JMCSS. They’ll give us some insight into the critical tasks professional school counselors complete for our students and families.