A dedicated teacher can be the difference between a student’s success and their struggle to graduate. Tupelo High School has many educators who have positively impacted students, whether they are Math teachers or band directors.

Jack Beghtol is a senior at Tupelo High School. He is a dedicated student and a Tupelo Long Blue Line member. Having been in school for most of his life, he can testify to what good teachers are like. In his Junior Year, Jack took English Composition I and II. He recalls Dr. Brandon’s strong passion for teaching.

“My teacher who had a positive impact on me was Dr. Brandon because he helped me a lot through his course and really pushed me to my limits. You can see that his passion for English was really noticeable because he loved teaching it, but he also loved helping people, which really made him stand out more than others,” Beghtol said.

To Jack, Dr. Brandon was a gem amongst stones. His personality made the class a highlight.

“He always had a good attitude. He really had great conversations with people and made other people laugh. It’s really enjoyable to be in his class because he always sets goals for people, and then he’ll notice if you’ve reached these goals, or if you’ve improved over time,” Brandon said.

Now that he’s taken English with Dr. Brandon, Beghtol works harder within the subject. He feels more confident.

“I used to be better at math, but once I took his class, I think I’ve understood English way more than every other subject, and he really made me use my brain with his courses and get his assignments done on time,” Beghtol said.

English doesn’t make him stressed anymore. Dr. Brandon brought out the hardworking student inside him.

“It’s gonna be sad because I’m not in his course anymore. I used to hate being in English class. I always didn’t do that well. I would always barely pass. And once I took his class, I really strived [sic] to do as hard as I could in his course and other courses in the future,”  Beghtol said.

English teachers aren’t the only ones who can strongly influence their students. Performing arts teachers also make a difference. Chloe Shaw is another Senior at Tupelo High School. She has been in Madrigals since her freshman year and shares her experiences with Dr. Susie Williams.

Chloe Shaw reflects on a moment with Williams where she helped her with anxiety.

“I think really, for me, it was her during Singe Feaste, she would always be energetic and just help us calm our nerves and just remember, like to just have fun while we were singing. We would like, shake it out and everything, you know, do little like, pre-warm-up rituals,” Shaw said.

When she first joined the group, Shaw was nervous about meeting all the upperclassmen. Williams helped her come out of her shell and talk to them.

“My freshman year, we did this thing called team bonding, and we played games with each other just to get to know each other. Before coming into the group, I felt like the older class, my older classmates, were going to be judgmental and scary, but they were all really nice, and that’s what made me open up and branch out more because they weren’t as judgmental as I thought they were going to be,” Shaw said.

While Williams worked at the high school, she impacted the school and the community.

“I feel like when she was here, she really fought hard for choir to stay alive. Right now, there are not a lot of kids who do choir, more kids or branching out and doing sports. We would go to the middle school and, like, try to scout middle schoolers and show them like, hey, we do this. This is a very fun group, and we do this for four years, and you get to go on trips and stuff,” Shaw said.

She shares that she will miss Ms. Susie but is open to a new teacher.

“In my opinion, she was a great teacher, and I am sad that she had to leave, but I love our new teacher, and it’s nice to have a young teacher who listens to our perspectives and gives like access to opinions on different songs,” Shaw said.

Teachers who go the extra mile are sometimes the highlight of students’ high school experience. It’s important that kids feel welcome and seen when they go to school.