Over the course of working 30-plus years in public education in three state systems, I have encountered hundreds of superlative faculty and staff. I have never been associated with anyone having greater dedication to the holistic development of students than Wanda McPhail.

A small-town, country girl from Union, Coach McPhail began her career in 1973 as a teacher and coach for the Meridian Public School System and has logged more than 30 years of service to the citizenry of Mississippi as an educator, including a 10-year stint at West Lauderdale Attendance Center.

To say that Coach McPhail has excelled during her tenure would be an unpardonable understatement. In the classroom, teaching English, history, science and physical education, she has helped to facilitate the academic achievement of thousands of students. As a basketball, volleyball, cheerleading and tennis coach, she has earned Hall of Fame credentials on the state and national levels.

It has been my privilege to work with Coach McPhail since 2000 at Meridian Community College, during which time her Eagle tennis teams have recorded 19 regional championships and consistently finished their seasons nationally-ranked. She has been named the Mississippi Association of Community and Junior College “Coach of the Year” five times and produced 24 national academic All-Americans. She has been inducted into the Mississippi Junior College Sports Hall of Fame and the National Junior College Athletic Association’s Hall of Fame. The tennis center at MCC is named in her honor.

Also at MCC, Coach McPhail has been instrumental in launching a campus-wide wellness initiative among employees. At this writing, she is instructing some 68 students in her wellness class, promoting better health among her co-workers through various exercise activities.

But those attributes are not the main reason I am nominating Coach McPhail as an “Unsung Hero.” Rather, it is because of the quality of her character and her positive Christian influence in the lives of so many young people. She is a stern disciplinarian having high expectations of her students and players. Yet, at the same time, she exemplifies an “en loco parentis” approach to teaching and coaching as well as anyone I have known in the teaching profession. In other words, she cares about each student as a parent would his or her own child. She uses the classroom and the tennis court as vehicles to mold future lives, and she accomplishes that in an amazing fashion.

With more enthusiasm and pep than the Energizer Bunny, Coach McPhail has also found time for many years to teach Sunday School and serve as lay leader of Collinsville United Methodist Church, where she also contributes to several missionary efforts. That would include a senior citizens’ “Soup Group” mission and support of agencies such as Care Lodge, Love’s Kitchen, and Wesley House. She has also served as the advisor of MCC’s Fellowship of Christian Athletes chapter and led her tennis teams in various community service endeavors, such as the Street Strut for Cancer.

In between it all, Coach McPhail and her husband, Mark, raised three high-achieving children who have blessed them with nine grandchildren. A tenth is on the way. Her grandma duties alone would be enough to keep anyone ultra-busy. She is without question a hero to me, her co-workers, and her many friends in our community. She has amassed a legacy that will produce results long after her coaching and teaching days are done.