Parklane Academy’s 2023 Education Awards recipients all have many years and a lot of effort invested in the school.
Best Teacher Amanda Dickerson has been in the classroom at her alma mater for a total of 10 years.
Best Assistant Teacher Teresa Morris has been tending to “busy work” along with many other duties for 15 years.
And Best Volunteer Connie Harrington is the new president of the school’s Parent Faculty Council.
AMANDA DICKERSON
The Parklane Academy fifth-grade teacher learned of her selection as the school’s 2023 Best Teacher when her husband called to give her the news.
“Honestly, I was unaware of the awards or that I was even nominated!” Dickerson said. “My sister had called me recently to say ‘I voted for you,’ but I just thought she was joking with me about something. Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised.”
Dickerson might have been surprised — but her students, peers and those who voted for her — certainly were not.
The LaPlace, La., native moved to Mississippi when she was in the fourth grade and began attending Parklane Academy, where she graduated in 2001. She then started her teaching career at her alma mater in January 2005.
“So, you can say — with the exception of earning my degree at the University of Southern Mississippi — that I’ve been at Parklane most of my life,” said Dickerson.
Initially teaching first-graders, Dickerson went on to teach seventh-, eighth- and ninth-graders before taking some time off to raise her own child. “I stayed home for eight years,” she said, “before returning to Parklane in 2015 to teach fourth- and fifth-graders.”
Dickerson said she’s really always known that she was destined to be a teacher.
“I have two sisters, one of whom teaches here at Parklane and the other in Louisiana, and we grew up playing ‘class’ and ‘school’ together,” she said. “So, yes, I think that it was truly a foregone conclusion — doing anything other than being a teacher never occurred to me.”
As a fifth-grade English teacher, Dickerson said that particular subject called out to her when she first read and taught Shakespeare to her ninth-grade class during her initial stint at Parklane.
“I fell in love,” she recalled. “I never looked back. Teaching English became my passion. I feel like God gives all us a talent and a specific gift and I believe this is mine — I feel so at home in the classroom teaching a subject I love so dearly.”
Asked what makes a good teacher, Dickerson answered, “I think it takes a lot of heart. You’re working with young people. And although it often changes minute to minute, and it’s certainly not always easy, you get the unique and rare opportunity to inspire young minds, to get them to think out of the box in a loving way.
“I treat my students as individuals, and not as a mass — not as a classroom of children. I love seeing them get excited about learning. For example, we’re now doing mock trials in class — my latest on Edgar Allan Poe’s ‘The Tell-Tale Heart’ — and they are so excited about it.
“My mission is to get these kids to read,” Dickerson said. “Too many young people today are so glued to their phones that they consider finishing a book as punishment. I always start off the process by asking them to give it a chance — give reading classic works a try. I don’t expect my students to love reading as much as I do; however, I do ask them to respect it, the authors and the work itself.”
TERESA MORRIS
Teresa Morris has been an assistant teacher at Parklane Academy for 15 years and loves her job. A co-worker recognized it.
“I was nominated for Best Assistant Teacher by Ashley Norman, our school secretary,” said Morris. “She actually told me she had done so. My first reaction was, ‘There’s no way I’m going to win!’ But, I did — and I was surprised but also happy, too.
“It’s wonderful to be acknowledged for what you do. Even many of the children have congratulated me.”
One of six assistant teachers on campus, Morris described her position as “taking care of a lot of the work the teachers need, such as making copies for the week, helping kids who have missed tests take their make-ups — things like that.
“Basically, the ‘busy work’ is what I do which allows the teachers more time to focus on their roles. I will also actually fill in for a teacher if she needs some time off for any reason, and I do that for all grades on campus.”
As the official “floating” assistant teacher for the first grade at Parklane, Morris said she goes from class to class to determine how she can best help a particular teacher.
“I started out working with the kindergarten instructors,” she said, “but moved up to first grade. It’s a great age and I love what I do.”
Morris said certification or a college degree is not required to be an assistant teacher. “Just a lot of dedication and commitment to working hard!” she chuckled.
Her favorite part of the job? “The kids,” answered Morris without hesitation. “Helping them in any way that’s needed — it’s so rewarding and meaningful. You can make an impression at the same time you’re educating them, both in the subjects taught and in life lessons. Getting to know the parents is also special.
“During the COVID lockdown, I gave out my personal cell phone number to all of the parents so that they could reach me if they needed anything. I felt that that was very important. One of my own daughters graduated here from Parklane during Covid, and it was hard on her. It was heartbreaking.”
A Natchez native, Morris’ husband is from McComb, which is what led her here. Before becoming an assistant teacher, she was a produce manager for a grocery chain in Brookhaven. “Quite the transition!” she laughed.
CONNIE HARRINGTON
Connie Harrington, voted Parklane’s Best Volunteer, takes her work very seriously. While not a job, per se, Harrington — as a parent of a child at Parklane Academy — puts the same amount of effort and dedication into helping and getting results as she would for a paid position.
“Yes, I have loved my role as a volunteer over the years,” said Harrington . “But I was also recently named president of the Parent Faculty Council at Parklane, so now I have an ‘official’ volunteer status, you could say. I had been a board member of the council for a couple of years but I’m in my first term now as president, a two-year term.”
She admits the new role was a bit daunting — at first. And she had been asked to fill the position before and had declined. However, she felt she was ready this time — and accepted.
“There’s a lot of delegating,” said Harrington, “and working with the 16 other members on the board. But it’s a great group of ladies and they really go above and beyond in doing all they came to improve our already great school. We all have the same goals that we’re working towards achieving.”
Harrington said the biggest project she and the board are working on right now, something they’d wanted done for quite a while, was to brick the facades of all of the campus buildings.
“The work actually started last month after several years of fundraising,” she said, “and it will make Parklane’s campus look and feel much more cohesive.”
Harrington said her main goal as president of the Parent Faculty Council is to make sure the teachers and staff at Parklane are appreciated.
“After what we all went through with COVID, such appreciation and recognition is needed now more than ever,” she noted. “There’s still some residual effects that remain from what we went through and these people on campus are true heroes to my mind.”
While acting as a room mother and field trip chaperone for a few years at Parklane, Harrington points to the moment she brought home her adopted daughter from China 13 years ago this February as her motivation to get more involved as a volunteer.
“She started Parklane Academy in kindergarten,” said Harrington. “And I had to wait five years to be matched with Lily. So when she started school I felt I wanted to be more involved in her day-to-day activities. That eventually led to my joining the board of the Parent Faculty Council.”
Lily is now 14 years old and in the eighth grade at Parklane.
“I’m honored to be named Best Volunteer,” said Harrington. “I live in Lincoln County and don’t get a hard copy of the paper — I read it online. My sister-in-law actually saw the announcement before I did and emailed me a photo. I was totally taken aback and shocked.
“I’m not much for attention or accolades but, at the same time, I’m very proud. I can’t tell you the number of congratulatory texts I’ve received. Maybe all of the work I’ve done over the years paid off!”
