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.

Earnessa Harrison, a teacher at Sherman Avenue Elementary School, said she brings the real world into her classroom. 

Harrison 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.

Harrison began her teaching career in Warren County as a teacher assistant at Grove Street Alternative School and Bovina Elementary. She then became a kindergarten teacher at Sherman Avenue Elementary.

Harrison received a Bachelor’s degree in child development from Alcorn State University. She then earned a Master’s degree in workforce education leadership from Alcorn State University. 

In Harrison’s classroom, she explained how she brings her lesson to life. As stated in her Educator of the Year application, if she teaches a lesson on farm life, she brings the outside in for her students. 

“When teaching my students about farm life, I designed my reading nook to resemble a farm,” Harrison said. 

Since the beginning of COVID-19, teachers have had to use other resources to aid in the learning process. Harrison stated that she has had to use technology and other imaginative alternatives to help with lessons. 

She mentioned that students are asked to bring stuffed animals to live in the classroom barn. Before COVID-19, she said she would take students on field trips. Instead, she guides her students through a virtual field trip by using the classroom J-Touch interactive display, as stated in her application.

“The students were actually able to watch real-time life on a farm,” Harrison said.