While raising her three daughters, Vicki Adcock had teaching on her mind.

After 11 years of parenting, Adcock made the leap and became an educator.

As it turned out, being a mother prepared her well for the classroom.

“That’s one thing I will never regret doing,” she said. “Because it set the tone for my entire teaching career and has helped me make a difference for a lot of children.”

Adcock’s love and compassion for her students are two reasons she was named the Golden Apple Teacher for March.

Adcock said she was speechless when she received the award last week.

“I’m truly honored,” she said. “There are a lot of great teachers that are out there that work so hard every day. To be recognized as any teacher, it is encouraging and it helps to know that we are making a difference.”

The 1979 graduate of Clarkdale Attendance Center has been teaching English for 23 years, the last 22 at Clarkdale Middle School.

A nomination letter described Adcock as an outstanding educator who has a positive relationship with parents and students.

“This teacher lives a life that exemplifies American civic responsibility and family-based servitude,” the letter reads. “She is a wife, a mother, a grandmother and she is an active member of her community church.”

Adcock, whose parents were both teachers, said they inspired her to succeed as an educator.

“I saw both of them make a huge impact on peoples’ lives,” she said.

In the classroom, Adcock doesn’t stand up and lecture her students. Instead, the students are divided into groups based on their interests.

“The goal is to find things that are interesting to them, that draws them in,” she said.

She also tries to bring learning to life by taking her students to the World War II museum in New Orleans, for example.

Making the experience interactive makes it easier for her students to express themselves, she said.

“They get excited in what they write about because they have formed such personal options about it,” she said.

And while Adcock enjoys the academic part of teaching, she’s also driven by its emotional component.

“It’s just enjoying the nurturing part of teaching,” she said. “I think it is much more than the educational part.” 

The Golden Apple Award

Adcock received a Golden Apple Teacher of the Month Certificate, a $300 cash award, and a $1,000 continuing education voucher for MSU-Meridian, and $1,300 in school supplies.

The presenting sponsor for March was Avery Products.

The eight monthly winners will be invited to the Golden Apple Teacher of the Year banquet and that winner will receive a special award on stage (The Meridian Star article), a custom-made Teacher of the Year Trophy, $2,500 cash to be used at their discretion and a $2,500 scholarship to be awarded to a deserving student in the teacher’s name.

Meridian Community College is the title sponsor. Golden Apple Award Partners in Education key sponsors are The Meridian Star, The Meridian Family of Stations Bounce TV and MeTV of Meridian, EMEPA, Mississippi Power, Citizens National Bank, Mississippi State University-Meridian, Avery Products, Woodstock Furniture. Participating sponsors are Meridian Coca-Cola Bottling, Labiche Jewelers, and College Savings Mississippi.

How to nominate an educator

Nominations for the monthly Golden Apple Award can be submitted by parents, faculty, or community members as well as past or present students. Candidates must be a current, full-time, faculty member in Pre-K through 12th grade (public or private) and work in the following counties: Lauderdale, Neshoba, Kemper, Clarke, and Newton in Mississippi; and Choctaw and Sumter in Alabama.

The nomination process consists of an essay (no more than 500 words) detailing why the person should be considered for the award. Nomination details and an entry form are available online at www.goldenappleawards.com.