Ms. Jessica Brockman was recently honored as the Decatur County District Teacher of the Month for January after being selected as the Decaturville Elementary Teacher of the Month. We recently sat down with Ms. Jessica to discuss her career as an educator. As many in our community are aware, Ms. Jessica has been battling Colon Cancer and was unable to attend the board meeting and presentation of award due to finishing her last chemo treatment! We are so glad Ms. Jessica has stuck through all of the adversity and illness to educate our children!
“I went to Riverside High School and graduated in 2007. I attended The University of Tennessee at Martin and moved home when my Granddaddy got sick to finish my bachelor’s degree in K-6 at the UT Martin Parsons Center,” Jessica said of her educational background. Her favorite part of teaching is “seeing students being proud of themselves when they have worked so hard to master a skill! There’s nothing like that joy!” When we discussed her least favorite or most challenging part of education she said, “My least favorite part is the worry about my students! As a teacher, you build such important relationships all year and know their struggles and want to make sure they have exactly what they need at home and at school. Then, It’s really hard to send them on each year! (I cry every single year!)”
Jessica has a solid philosophy of education in which she believes, “every child can learn and I want to be that safe place for each of my students! I strive for them to know if they’re hungry, scared, struggling, or having a hard time grasping a skill that we will get it! We, each of us together, will work and meet each need to get where they should be to be successful!” We ask all teacher’s of the month why they chose to work and live in Decatur County and we usually get very similar answers. Ms. Brockman was no exception. “I chose to teach in Decatur County because there’s nothing like being home! From teaching with staff that taught me in school, at the exact place where I worked hard to learn as a child, to teaching my own children in my own classroom-I feel that Decatur County has the best and most caring teachers and a great environment for all of our students!”
Ms. Jessica is a phenomenal educator and we are so proud to have her as part of our team, educating our most valuable assets. Even through cancer, she has never left her students’ sides and continues to give her all to the students of Decatur and to contribute to the community that built her.