Educator of the Week: Mary Beth DeLoach

It’s time to recognize this week’s Educator of the Week, presented by the Tennessee Education Lottery.

This week’s nominee is Mary Beth DeLoach, a kindergarten teacher at Pope Elementary School in Jackson.

Deloach has been teaching kindergarten for over 40 years.

She says she attended Pope Elementary when she was younger and had many great teachers that inspired her to become a teacher.

Her favorite part of teaching is a very important skill students start to learn in kindergarten.

“Teaching the kindergarteners to learn to read,” DeLoach said. “When you see that light bulb come on and it’s really exciting.”

As with all ages of children, teaching kindergarteners requires patience and understanding.

DeLoach says the biggest challenge is teaching students to write.

“Getting them to express their thoughts, you know there is so many skills involved with that,” said DeLoach.

As preparing her students for first grade, DeLoach hopes they know that she cares for them as if they were her own children.

“There’s so far between the very beginning of school and the end of school, and it does make you feel good when you see all of that progress and how they’ve grown,” DeLoach said.

DeLoach is now eligible for the Tennessee Education Lottery Educator of the Month award.

To vote for her or any other nominees, go to the Tennessee Education Lottery website.

To nominate an educator for our weekly award, just email us at [email protected].