Ellington

It's obvious—Angela Graves is 6 feet tall with a megawatt smile book-ended by deep dimples. It's not obvious, unless you're standing outside her classroom listening, that she's one of the lucky ones. Eyes sparkling, Graves will tell anyone she's right where she should be—teaching eighth graders at a middle school—the Ramp Up reading literacy program at Morrison Academic Advancement Center, where I am the librarian. She has been at Morrison all five years that she's been a certified teacher.

"I feel like I'm an asset to the district in general," the Clinton native told me. "I teach life skills—not just getting their scores up—to help them realize things are not always going to be their way, to help them learn how to get where they need to be, not just where they want to be."

Graves, 35, graduated from Jackson State University in 1992 with a degree in mass communications, started her evening job at WAPT Channel 16 and began substitute teaching. She thought she wanted to be a reporter or anchorwoman but soon realized she belonged behind the camera. And she wanted to teach.

So for the better part of 13 years, her days and nights have gone something like this—prepare to teach, teach, grade students' work, operate the camera during one or more local news shows as many as three nights a week—do it all again the next day, five days a week. Plus, she's earned 12 hours towards the 33 needed to complete Mississippi College's Masters of Arts in Teaching program. And she finds time to bake for friends and family, to fish, to read, to watch basketball—SEC in particular—and, most important of all, to be there for her daughter Tam and her nieces and nephews.

Those life skills Graves shares with her students come from the teachings of her parents, Rosie and James Graves Sr. Very few decisions are made without consulting them or her siblings. What her parents did was live their family values, instilling morals by example, she says.

Graves does the same for her students. She shows them every day—arrive prepared, follow the class rituals and routines consistently, treat every student with respect for their individuality but as an equal among their peers.

Through Ramp Up's Cross-Age Tutoring component, her students visit Walton Elementary School. There, they read to first graders, setting their own example of life skills learned and shared.