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 Educator of the Year nominees.

 

For Christina Adcock, teaching English to 8th-grade students at the Academy of Innovation must be an extremely different task than teaching English to those in Guangzhou, China. But while the task may be different, her techniques and passion remain constant.

“Some may wonder how I managed to get a bunch of 13-14-year-old 8th graders to get excited about grammar every week,” Adcock said. “And that answer comes from me. When I teach grammar, I am excited. I smile, laugh and tell corny grammar jokes that make the students roll their eyes with a smile on their face.”

Adcock is a finalist in 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 the chamber luncheon on Feb. 17. 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.

Adcock began her career as a 4th-grade teacher at South Delta Elementary School in 2011. In 2014, she joined the Vicksburg Warren School District as a 4th- and 6th-grade English teacher at Warren Central Intermediate School. She moved over to the Academy of Innovation at the start of the 2017-2018 school year.

She earned her bachelor’s degree in sociology from Mississippi College in 2009. In 2011, she earned a master’s in education from Alcorn State University.

In addition to her sociology and education degrees, Adcock earned a religious studies degree from Jackson College of Ministries in Foreign Mission and interned in Bucharest, Romania. She has also earned an English as a Second Language certificate from Mississippi College and interned in Guangzhou, China.

In her application for the Educator of the Year Award, Adcock said she teaches because “I must.”

“I don’t believe a teacher can or should be a teacher without loving their students,” Adcock said. “The lessons I teach don’t begin with the board or an assignment. They begin with greeting every student as they walk through the door. Asking them about their day. Recognizing when they are sad or happy. Listening to them talk … about anything, even if it makes me want to roll my eyes.

“My relationship with these amazing young people just happens to show up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed ready and excited to learn everything there is to learn about grammar.”