Ellisville, MS – A teacher’s impact is not always measured by a test score or a grade. Sometimes, it is found years later in the career a student chooses, the confidence they carry into a college classroom, or the memory of someone who believed in them when they struggled to believe in themselves.
Those stories were at the heart of the inaugural Jones College Impact Scholarship Program, a new initiative through the Jones College Foundation that recognizes current Jones College students while honoring the educators they credit with helping shape their lives.
Students applied by writing an essay about an educator who made a significant difference in their lives. Each selected student received a $1,000 scholarship to Jones College, while the educator recognized in the essay received an award and a $100 Amazon gift card to use in the classroom.
Jones College Executive Vice President of Advancement Sabrina Young said the program was designed to celebrate both sides of that impact.
“Today, it is much more than a scholarship and a gift card. It’s about saying thank you,” Young said. “Thank you for believing in the students. Thank you for recognizing their potential, and thank you for helping prepare the next generation of professionals, leaders, parents, and community members who will shape our world.”
The essays submitted by Jones students revealed that the influence of a teacher can take many forms.
For Jaci Thornton, that impact came from Greene County High School Biology teacher Carla McCoy, who became a source of support during one of the most difficult periods of Thornton’s life. After Thornton unexpectedly lost her father during high school, McCoy made sure she knew her classroom would always be open if she needed help or simply someone to talk to.
“Her empathy during that time is something I will always remember,” Thornton wrote, adding that she hoped every student going through a difficult season could have “a teacher like her in their corner.”
For Katherine Smith, Northeast Jones High School English teacher Karen Fitzgerald helped her recognize something she had not yet seen in herself. After Fitzgerald praised a personal narrative Smith had written and explained specifically what made her writing strong, Smith said the experience changed the way she viewed her own abilities.
“For the first time, I believed that my thoughts and experiences had value,” Smith wrote. She credited Fitzgerald with helping her “find my voice and trust in my abilities.”
That ability to recognize potential before a student sees it is at the heart of what Jones College Foundation Board President Robin Robinson said the new scholarship celebrates.
“When I think about impact, I think about how one person can make a difference in another person’s life,” Robinson said. She described a teacher as someone who sees potential in students before they recognize it themselves and encourages them to keep going when challenges arise.
Robinson also recognized the donors who make scholarship opportunities possible at Jones. The Jones College Foundation awards more than $600,000 annually to students, with donors investing in students they may never personally meet.
For some recipients, the influence of a high school teacher is already shaping what they are pursuing at Jones.
Reese Gray wrote that West Jones High School Anatomy and Physiology teacher Denise Taylor transformed a challenging science course into an experience that inspired Gray to pursue radiology.
“She did more than teach me science; she helped me discover a career path that combines my interest in the human body with the opportunity to help others,” Gray wrote. Gray added that receiving the Impact Scholarship would allow her to “continue the journey she inspired.”
Jones College President Dr. Jesse Smith said helping students recognize their own potential is one of the extraordinary gifts educators provide. Smith thanked the teachers for bringing out the gifts parents see in their children and helping students see something bigger in themselves, describing the choice to devote their lives to students as both a gift and a sacrifice.
Together, the students’ stories illustrated an impact that reaches far beyond the classroom—through the teacher who stays late until a difficult concept finally makes sense, the one who notices when something is wrong or the one whose lesson helps a student discover a future career.
“At Jones College, we believe education changes lives,” Young said. “And today, we are here to celebrate the educators who make that happen.”
For the inaugural Impact Scholarship recipients, the program provided more than financial assistance toward their education at Jones. It gave them the opportunity to recognize the educators whose lessons they continue to carry with them—and to simply say thank you.
2026 Impact Scholarship Recipients
The 2026 Jones College Impact Scholarship recipients and the educators they honored, listed alphabetically by student last name, are:
- William Ables — Lindsey Walker, former teacher at Sylva Bay Academy, currently employed at Jackson Preparatory School
- Skylar Balliet — Haley Thomas, South Jones High School
- Brayden Blackledge — Richard West, Jones County Career and Technical Education Center
- Ma’Lahni Doyle — Kristen Parsons, Petal High School
- Kate Faler — Joannie Harrell, Seminary High School
- Reese Gray — Denise Taylor, West Jones High School
- Rihanna Guston — TeAnna Carter, Heidelberg High School
- Tyler Hedgepath — Brandi Edwards, Jones County Career and Technical Education Center
- Baylee Landon — Kelsey Blackwell, Stringer High School
- Payne McDonald — Kendra Dearman, South Jones High School
- Erin McCullum — Jana Geiger, Seminary High School
- Tyrick McLaurin — Stephanie Harris, Bay Springs Elementary School
- Laygyn Moody — Anna Lauren Prentiss, Greene County High School
- Nijelin Nichols — Tamie Taylor, Laurel High School
- DeMya Pittman — Dr. Angela Hughes, Quitman High School
- Katherine Smith — Karen Fitzgerald, Northeast Jones High School
- Elijah Smith — Carressia King, Bay Springs High School
- Jaci Thornton — Carla McCoy, Greene County High School
- Rivers Walley — Foster Ross, Wayne County High School
- Kodi Warren — James Robert, former teacher at Sumrall High School, currently employed at Jones College
