Tametricia Brown is a kindergarten teacher at Dana Road Elementary.

She lives her life with the same principle that she urges her students to live by: If you open your heart to learning and life, the rest will fall into place.

Brown 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 their Chamber Luncheon in February.

The winner of each award will receive $1,000 from Ameristar Casino and the runner-ups for each award will receive $500 from Mutual Credit Union.

Brown has been a teacher at Dana for two years, and before that, she was an assistant teacher for five years and an AmeriCorps reading tutor for two years.

When asked how she ensures her students are connected to the world, Brown answered, “by discussing with my students that the lesson they are learning in the classroom has a real-world purpose outside of the classroom.”

Brown says her special education background has taught her that when the students control their behavior in class they seem to retain and learn more.

“I tell my students that their education should always be on the top of their to-do list. At school and home, they must always practice Habit 3, which is work first then play.” In other words, her strategy for student achievement is behavior control and having a goal to achieve.

Brown said that her most moving educational moment was when she was chosen Dana Road’s Teacher of the Year by her peers.

“I am in my second year of teaching to for them to honor me in such a way makes it obvious to me that I am where I need to be doing what I need to do,” Brown said.

Another moving moment was seeing her students’ faces when they received the highest score in IReady Reading and Math for October.

“They had worked so hard to achieve this honor and I was so proud of them.”

When I asked why she chose teaching as a profession, Brown said her career choice happened a little differently than most.

“Teaching chose me, and I want to be a champion for my students every day.” Brown explained.