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.

 

Eloise Ford, it seems, has always been a nurse. But today, in her role as a health science instructor at Hinds Community College in Vicksburg, her role is preparing tomorrow’s healthcare professionals.

“My most moving and educational experience is to see the impact that my teaching has made in so many of the students’ lives,” she said. “I am elated that so many of my students have chosen the medical field and are successfully working right along with me in the community on a job in the healthcare field.”

Ford 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 its luncheon 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.

Ford is in her 18th year in education, teaching health science to students in grade seventh and up.

She received her certified nurse assistance from Hinds Community College and later received her licensed practical nursing degree, also from Hinds.

She later received her RN/ADN degree from Hinds and a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Alcorn State.

“As a health science instructor, I feel cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and first aid defines me as a teacher more than any other lesson I teach,” Ford writes in her Teacher of the Year application. “The students are taught the importance of CPR in saving lives and encouraged to watch a video on the subject prior to working in teams to perform hands-on CPR on manikins.

“The students believe they would be able to better serve their patients and community by learning what to do to save a life,” she continued. “I believe that every life matters and that everything should be done in one’s power to sustain life.”