During the Vicksburg-Warren County Chamber of Commerce luncheon on Wednesday, the 34th annual Educator of the Year award winners were announced. The winners in the elementary and secondary categories each received $1,000 from Ameristar Casino. The runner-ups in each category received $500 from Mutual Credit Union.

The winner of the elementary category was Beechwood Elementary School third-grade teacher, Charlsie Godshaw. Runner-up for this category was Clorissa Griffin, a fifth-grade science teacher at Vicksburg Intermediate School. 

“I’m just overwhelmed but all in a good way,” Godshaw said. “I’m thankful that my peers at Beechwood Elementary nominated me and thought I was worthy of this recognition.”

Godshaw said she might reinvest her award into her classroom.

“I was thinking about putting the money towards my classroom library,” she said. “Just to spice it up and make it more comfortable and cozy so students will go there and want to read.”

Godshaw also wanted to acknowledge the hard work and effort of her peers at Beechwood Elementary.

“We are a family at Beechwood Elementary and are also just a tight-knit group and I can’t do it without them. I don’t feel like I’m any more deserving than any of them because it’s a team effort,” said Godshaw.

The winner for the secondary school category was Danielle Bergeron, a teacher at St. Aloysius High School.

Eloise Ford, a Health Science Instructor at Hinds Community College-Vicksburg, was the runner-up.

“I feel very honored and it’s given me a little bit of validation about where I’m supposed to be,” Bergeron said.

Bergeron stated that she was not sure how she would use her monetary reward.

“For now, I’m going to save it until I decided what I want to do with it,” she said.

Bergeron said she did not originally go to school for education and is grateful for all the support and guidance the teachers at St. Aloysius have given her.

She added that her mentors were helpful when starting her teaching journey.

“I’m so thankful to all of my mentors at St. Aloysius. Honestly without them, I would not be the teacher that I am today,” Bergeron said.