This article is part of a series by The Vicksburg Post, in partnership with the Vicksburg-Warren County Chamber of Commerce, featuring each of the nominees for teacher of the year honors.

Rhondilyn Nix ensures that her students are connected by preparing them for the real world. 

“I prepare my students for the real world and their exit strategy of choice,” Nix said.

Nix, a Vicksburg High School teacher, is a finalist for the Vicksburg-Warren County Chamber of Commerce’s Educator of the Year award. The chamber will select and announce one elementary and one secondary teacher of the year at the chamber luncheon, which has been rescheduled to Mar. 1. 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. 

Nix began as an AmeriCorps tutor and teacher aide for Bowmar Elementary in 2006. Starting in 2007, Nix worked as a GED English Teacher at Grove Street Alternative School. In 2013, she began teaching at Vicksburg High School as an English teacher. 

In 2005, she received a bachelor’s degree in public policy at Southern University and A&M College. Nix then received a master of arts in teaching for secondary education at Alcorn State University in 2010. 

As stated in her Educator of the Year application, students are taught how to write résumés, fill out job applications and participate in mock interviews with various companies in the Vicksburg and Warren County community. Nix also teaches her students how to write college admission essays along with preparing them for the ACT or the ASVAB test.

However, Nix said the most important lesson taught to her students is to start every day with a clean slate. 

“This lesson being modeled by me day after day teaches students about forgiveness, it teaches them how to deal with conflict, it shows them that it’s never too late to make things right and they will continue to use this in life,” Nix said.