Center Story

Top Local Teachers are Our Graduates

June 1, 2010 - The Jackson-Madison County School System participated this year in the state Department of Education, Tennessee Teacher of the Year award. A teacher must be a fulltime teacher, certified prekindergarten through 12th grade teacher in a state accredited public school, spend the majority of the day in direct teaching and be in at least the fifth year of teaching in Tennessee public schools, to be eligible.

According to the state department's website, teachers are selected through five cycles: building level, system level, field service center region, grand division, and state, and at three levels - prekindergarten through fourth, fifth through eight and ninth through twelfth..

Ten of the twenty seven award winners (building level) are graduates of Union University. They include: DeLisa Alsup, Alexander Elementary; William Arnold, Thelma Barker Elementary; Tamieka Johnson, Lane Elementary; Susan Warren, Malesus Elementary; Rhonda Cooper, South Elementary; Nancy Hart, Whitehall Elementary; EuRonda Lee-Hicks, Andrew Jackson Intermediate; Sara D. Dorris, Tigrett Middle School; Shannon Arnold, Jackson Central Merry High and Robert Briley, North Side High.

Sara D. Dorris, a 2003 graduate, English teacher at Tigrett Middle school, was selected from her building, and moved to the next step to receive the Jackson-Madison County Schools award for fifth through eight level.

“My proudest moments are when I’m teaching something new, and the students understand.”
~Sara D. Dorris
Congratulations teachers and Union graduates! We are so proud of you! Thank you for teaching our children!