April 2023 Winner - Brittani Emerson:(Northeast Middle School)
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Meridian Star Article
Northeast Middle School teacher Brittani Emerson’s passion for teaching and for her students shines through as soon as she begins talking about her classroom.
"My favorite thing about teaching is being able to reach those students who are the most difficult ones to reach and being able to really just be that impact, that light, that inspiration in their life so they can see that all things are possible," she said.
Emerson’s teaching philosophy is that all students can learn no matter their background, their income level, their learning or physical disabilities.
"All students can learn. I truly believe that all students can grow and just achieve greatness and that is basically my teaching philosophy," said Emerson, a fifth-and-sixth grade inclusion teacher at Northeast Middle.
"In order to grow you have to change and that's a lot of adapting, monitoring, and figuring out what works and doesn’t work and that is what I pride myself on every single day within my classroom," she said. "All of my students do not learn the same, and I take the time to figure out how they learn and what is going to be better for them."
For her efforts in the classroom, Emerson was recognized as April’s winner of the Golden Apple Award during a Tuesday pep rally at Northeast Middle School, aimed at motivating students for this week’s state testing.
Caught off guard by the award, Emerson was emotional as she thanked those who nominated her.
"This is absolutely an amazing accomplishment to achieve," she said following the rally. "Golden Apple is something that I have nominated other teachers for as well … but to truly be selected is definitely a lifetime honor."
Emerson is in her ninth year in the education field, including seven years as a classroom teacher. She earned her bachelor’s degree in early childhood education at Liberty University and her master’s degree in school administration from Mississippi State University Meridian Campus.
She, as well as her husband, Meridian High School art teacher Torion Emerson, are actively involved in the Boys & Girls Club.
"I volunteer in anyway that they need my help," she said. "I just kind of step up to the plate."
Emerson has two children. Her daughter Alli Jones is a seventh grader and cheerleader at Northeast Middle, and her son Kaiden Jones is a fourth grader at Northeast Elementary.
She credits a teaching assistant, Virginia Naylor of Crestwood Elementary School, of pointing her in the direction of teaching when she was younger.
"From the time that I was in elementary school, she always spoke life into me and told me that I was going to be a teacher, and I would always tell her, ‘Ms. Naylor I don’t want to be a teacher. I want to be a pediatrician,’" Emerson said. "And she said, ‘No Brittani, you are destined to be a teacher.’"
After her second year in college, Emerson’s dream of being a pediatrician faded.
"Organic chemistry was definitely the deal breaker for me," she laughed. "I just kind of had that voice speak to me and say, ‘It’s time and it’s education, and ever since then it has been education."
Emerson’s classroom is not the typical classroom.
She said a lot of her students are kinesthetic learners and being able to touch things helps with their learning. She also frequently incorporates music into lessons, allows students to work math problems with washable markers on their desktop and uses atypical seating around the classroom.
"I incorporate a lot of music within my classroom so anything that is kind of a catchy song or theme, I try to incorporate some math content or even a reading content with it," she said. "I am a big proponent of flexible seating so you will see I have a couch, I have bean bags, I have stools, I have wobble chairs just anything to get their attention so that they can actually focus on the learning and not the exterior or outside environment."
Emerson said she hopes her students will one day look back and remember her as a teacher who believed in each one of them.
"I just want them to know that no matter where life takes them, they really can achieve the impossible," she said. "Sometimes with our students, I feel like they have gone through the course of their education and they may have been just discouraged. But to have that teacher who sees the light in you in the midst of darkness is the key, and that is what I want to be remembered for as the teacher who sees the light in everybody."
