(This week The Columbian-Progress spotlights East Marion Elementary School teacher Jerri Schexnayder.)
Q: When and where were you born?
A: I was born in Flint, Mich., March 28, 1986.
Q: Where did you attend school?
A: I went to Morton High School, and I went to college at Southern Miss and William Carey for my master’s.
Q: Where do you work? Tell us about your job/company.
A: I teach sixth grade science and social studies. I weigh more heavily on the science part because we can have more fun, more activities and experiments. They just got through Newton’s laws of motion, and they did stations where they learned about friction and inertia through different activities. Every Wednesday is history Wednesday, and right now they are learning about ancient Egypt and mummification. This 9 weeks they are going to be learning about the universe and planets.
Q: What led you to your profession?
A: I have five brothers, and ever since I was younger I was always the teacher and the principal. I would teach them so when I was in school I always knew I wanted to be a teacher.
Q: What do you enjoy most about your job?
A: I like being able to relate to the kids and motivate them. They do need to learn, but it’s not always about what they learn. I feel good when I can put a smile on their face and when they feel like they can come and talk to me. I love working with the kids.
Q: What is the most challenging aspect of your job?
A: The most challenging aspect is making sure I can reach all of the kids because there are so many different learning styles. For example, most of them like arts and crafts, but I have two students who don’t like to color or draw. So I have to figure out different ways to reach them because you need to reach all of them.
Q: What is the most important lesson you have learned in your career?
A: Teaching wise the most important lesson I’ve learned is you have to show the kids that you care. No matter how many times they see you, if they don’t see that you care about them they won’t even try to give 100 percent.
Q: When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
A: I did want to be a judge at one point just because I wanted to be the boss. I was bossy.
Q: What was your first job?
A: The first job I ever had was at a chicken plant for a summer. After I graduated I worked at Walmart.
Q: Who is the person who has been most influential in your life?
A: Of course my mom, Brenda Lee, because she’s helped me throughout this entire journey. She’s the most important person. School wise I had a librarian, Pat Baugh, who helped me a lot. When my mom was struggling, I could always count on her to give me motivation, help and get me through. The person I count on at school here is Vikki Sims. She’s like my mentor, and we’ve been working together for six years. If I have any problems or need advice, I know I can always go to her and ask her.
Q: What is your spouse’s name?
A: Ronald. He’s a Comcast technician.
Q: Do you have children?
A: We have three. Mia Lee is 18, Alexis is 18 and Rrianna is 2.
Q: If you could have anything for your last meal on earth, what would it be?
A: A steak from Sully’s and a loaded baked potato.
Q: If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?
A: I would want to go to Paris. I want to see the Eiffel Tower, experience the atmosphere, eat the food and experience the whole culture.
Q: What hobbies do you like to do in your spare time?
A: I’m an arts and craft type of person so I like scrapbooking or any type of project like that as long as I get to work with my hands. I like to read suspense and sometimes romance novels.
Q: What do you enjoy about Columbia and Marion County?
A: The people. They’re nice, caring and make sure you’re OK. I just like the atmosphere.
Q: If you could have lunch with anyone from your life or history, who would it be and why?
A: Langston Hughes because I like his poetry. I would like to sit down and ask him about some of his poems.
Q: What moment in your life has had the biggest impact on who you are today?
A: I had my first daughter young, and having her young I had to make sure I had all my ducks in a row. I didn’t have time to play around. I had to make sure I kept going and stayed moving forward, so I could make sure she had a decent life. Even though it’s not a good thing, it turned to be the best thing for me because it made sure that I was straight and took care of my business.
Q: What is one thing you want to do that you’ve never tried?
A: I want to try to learn how to swim. I don’t know how to swim and am afraid of water. If I learned to swim, I could get in the pool and not be scared of drowning in 3 feet of water.
Q: Using one word for each, what are your top three morals?
A: Honesty, respectfulness and caring. You have to be an honest person because nobody would trust you and you wouldn’t get far in life. You have to be respectful to earn respect from other people. You have to show compassion.
Q: How would you like to be remembered?
A: I want to be remembered as someone who cared about other people because I do care a lot. I’m a giving person, and I want people to remember that I tried to make a difference.
— Joshua Campbell
Pictured Above: East Marion Elementary School sixth grade teacher Jerri Schexnayder likes to incorporate arts and crafts into her classroom as much as possible to keep her students engaged throughout the entire class. | Photo by Joshua Campbell
