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.

 

 

Before Cassandra Ringo began her teaching career, she was serving in a far different capacity.

With her son, Isaiah, only 4-months-old at the time, Ringo was serving with the U.S. Army Reserves in 2003 and was deployed to Kuwait. Now, 17 years later, Ringo is continuing to serve her community, this time as a teacher at South Park Elementary School.

Ringo, a sixth-grade English language arts teacher, is one of the educators nominated for the Vicksburg-Warren County Chamber of Commerce’s Teacher of the Year awards.

The chamber will select and announce one elementary and one secondary teacher of the year at the chamber luncheon on Feb. 25. 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.

“It is important that I ensure my students are connected to the world around them,” Ringo writes in her Teacher of the Year application. “I teach adolescents, and a lot of times they are not interested in school, so they respond more to a dose of ‘real-life’ reality.

“I ensure all my lessons are relevant and connected to the real world by talking about experiences that relate to the topic being discussed,” she writes.

Ringo received an associate’s degree in general studies from Hinds Community College before receiving her bachelor’s degree in secondary education from Alcorn State University.

In her application, Ringo said she is a teacher “because it is my passion.”

“I love to teach. I am proud of the accomplishments I make each day in a child’s life, but I will never boast,” she writes. “Instead, I share my expertise to help and inspire others … so they will become proactive and productive citizens in the future.”