Top Teachers Recognized At Water Valley School District
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WATER VALLEY – The Water Valley School District Teacher of the Year awards were presented to two outstanding educators in the district during Monday night’s board meeting. Water Valley High School Principal Drew Pitcock presented the high school award to Vietta Booker and Superintendent Jerry Williams presented the DES award to Shelbi Brown.
Williams and Pitcock also shared highlights about the educators.
Vietta Booker
Booker obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Elementary Education and a Master’s as well as a Specialist degree in Curriculum and Instruction, all from the University of Mississippi. She has been teaching for 19 years. Ten of those years were spent at Davidson Elementary School teaching math, science, and social studies, where she was also named Teacher of the Year. For the past nine years, Booker has taught a variety of subjects at WVHS including STEM, Foundations of Biology, Biology I, Accelerated Biology, Human Anatomy and Physiology, and 8th grade science. She also served as the Math Interventionist for one year.
She is married to Richard Booker, Produce Manager at CashSaver in Water Valley. They have two children. Davelin holds a nursing degree from the UM Medical Center and is currently working toward her Nurse Anesthetist doctoral degree. Devin attended Base Camp Coding Academy in Water Valley. He is working as a Junior Software Developer at Morgan White Group in Ridgeland. Both of her children graduated high school from WVHS.
“I myself graduated from WVHS in 1988, and it’s ‘home’ for me. Both of my parents (Butler and Daliah McLeod) taught in the Water Valley School District until they retired. One goal in my life is to help others—and that’s what I love about my job,” Booker said. “I love working with the students to help them become successful adults one day, and I love being there for my co-workers in any way possible. I have never been the type of person who could say ‘no,’ which is why I have taught so many different things in the district. I just go wherever I am placed to do what I love to do: teach!”
Shelbi Brown
Brown is originally from Olive Branch, but she has lived in Oxford for eight years. She is married to Ramsey, and they have two children. Their first child is their son Grayson, and they just had a little girl, Blakely.
Brown graduated from Ole Miss with a Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education in 2016. She did her senior practicum at Davidson Elementary School and fell in love with Water Valley. This is her fifth year teaching at DES – she taught first grade for three years and this is her second year teaching second grade.
“I absolutely love teaching students and seeing them grow and learn every single day,” Brown said. “One of my greatest joys is seeing students reach their goals that they have set for themselves. I am so humbled and honored to be chosen as Teacher of the Year. I work with the absolute best and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for Davidson Elementary School!”