Vicksburg Intermediate School teacher Allison Johnson Neal has been in the field of education for 10 years and currently serves as a lead teacher for her school.

Neal is a finalist for the Vicksburg-Warren County Chamber of Commerce’s Educator of the Year award. One elementary and one secondary teacher of the year will be announced at the Chamber Luncheon in February. The winner of each award will receive $1,000 from Ameristar Casino and the runners-up for each award will receive $500 from Mutual Credit Union. 

Neal earned an associate’s degree in general education from Hinds Community College; a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Mississippi State University; a master’s degree in educational administration from Mississippi College; and a doctorate in educational administration from the University of Southern Mississippi. 

Neal said her teaching philosophy revolves around core values and key concepts.

“In my experience, lessons are extensions of teacher personalities,” she said. “While one lesson may not define a person, lessons are ways that educators show students who they are and also give students the opportunity to show who they are – their strengths and even their weaknesses. To do this, differentiation is key.”

But Neal said creativity is also very important for student success, something she said she has seen in the past through her lessons.

“My focus is math,” she said. “But (the students’) creativity was way beyond my imagination. I was truly amazed. It changed my mindset as not only a teacher, but as a person. With everything I do in life, the goal is to grow.”

And growth is something Neal said she requires of her students as well, so they can take their lessons and apply them to daily life outside the classroom.

“Connecting learning to the real world is very important,” she said. “It can be the difference in some students learning a skill or not. It makes them realize that what we do in school matters in the real world. With so many things going on in the real world, students can sometimes not see the importance of school. If a student is worried about how they will survive, their mind is not on academics.”

Being able to foster that growth in students and teachers alike, Neal said, is something she loves about her current position.

“I am currently a lead teacher,” she said. “With this position, I have the opportunity to impact students beyond these four walls because I also get to impact teachers. One thing that I can truly say about the Vicksburg Warren School District is that we value the continued learning of our teachers.”

And all of that, she said, leads to some satisfying results.

“I teach because it allows me to help write someone else’s success story,” Neal said.