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.

 

In her 15th year of teaching, Vicksburg High School math teacher Grangerette Haynes-Ivory believes she has a lofty responsibility when it comes to her students.

“As a high school teacher, I feel that it is my responsibility to prepare my students for life after high school,” she said. “Whether they decide to enlist in the military, go directly into the workforce, pursue a trade, or pursue a bachelor’s degree, the responsibility and lessons that they learn in high school should translate into the real world.”

Haynes-Ivory said she also has what she calls some “non-negotiables” when it comes to her students that she said will “prepare them to become responsible, productive members of our community.” Those items include: be on time, be respectful, be prepared, be appropriately dressed and “always give 100 percent.”

Haynes-Ivory 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.

Haynes-Ivory, a graduate of Warren Central High School, studied biology at Jackson State University before receiving a bachelor’s in elementary education from Alcorn State University. In addition to being a math teacher, she is also co-chair of the school’s math department.

“To improve student achievements in my classroom, I tell my students that they are the author in the next chapter of their lives,” she writes in her Teacher of the Year application. “I  explain to them that no matter how they have behaved or previously performed academically in the past, they can always make a positive change.”