Part of an ongoing series featuring the teachers nominated for Vicksburg-Warren County Chamber of Commerce’s Teacher of the Year honors.

Camille Buxton has always known she wanted to work with children in some capacity.

“I wanted to be their advocate, so I decided to become a children’s advocacy attorney,” Buxton, who holds degrees from Alcorn State, Mississippi College and William Carey University, said. “I quickly learned that this was not the path for me.”

So she decided to apply as a substitute teacher in the Vicksburg Warren School District and was called to be a long-term first-grade substitute teacher during the 2005-06 school year.

“It was during this time that I realized what I wanted to be in life — an educator,” Buxton said. “I went back to school to obtain the necessary degree to teach. I was hired in 2009 as an educator. To this day, it is one of the best decisions I have ever made.”

Buxton, a nominee for the Vicksburg-Warren County Chamber of Commerce’s Secondary Teacher of the Year, is a teacher at River City Early College.

Buxton, who taught kindergarten, fourth- and sixth-grade at Bowmar Elementary for six years before teaching freshmen and sophomores at RCEC, now feels her work has meaning and a purpose.

“I love it when my students suddenly understand something or that great idea appears out of nowhere,” said Buxton, who has been at RCEC for three years. “My greatest enjoyment that I get from teaching is seeing students grow in knowledge and confidence. No two days are ever the same.

“I teach because to teach is to touch a life forever,” Buxton said.

Buxton had a mixture of emotions after learning she had been chosen Teacher of the Year at RCEC by her peers.

“I was shocked because there are so many excellent teachers at our school, but also proud because my peers chose me to represent RCEC,” Buxton said.

The Vicksburg-Warren County Chamber of Commerce will choose one elementary and one secondary teacher of the year at the chamber luncheon Feb. 20. The winner of each award will receive $1,000 from Ameristar Casino and the runner-up for each award will receive $500 from Mutual Credit Union.

Whether she is chosen as the chamber Teacher of the Year or not, Buxton said she will “present my school and my district to the best of my ability, and continue to inspire students to reach their full potential.”