Jillian Lockette is repaying a debt to her mother

EDITOR’S NOTE: Second of eight profiles of the Dougherty County School System’s eight 2018 Teacher of the Year finalists.

ALBANY — Much like West Town teacher Carol Boges, Alice Coachman’s TOY finalist Jillian Lockette’s mother was the driving force behind her education and choosing teaching as a profession.

“One of the most influential factors in my decision to become a teacher is my mother’s story,” Lockette said. “My mother and father conceived my older brother as teenagers in high school, and she was forced to withdraw from school while she was pregnant. After my brother’s birth, she returned to high school and obtained her diploma.. She attended college for a short time but made the tough decision to sacrifice her college career to take care of my brother.

“It became her goal and dream to ensure that her four children earned college degrees.”

Lockette’s decision to become a teacher, however, was not an easy one to make.

“I hesitantly chose education as my field of study, and often doubted and pined over that decision,” the TOY finalist said. “Several naysayers explained that education would not be the ideal field of study. I was encouraged to choose other professions that were more profitable, exciting and lucrative. I was neither impressed nor intrigued by any of those careers.

“I remained steadfast in one simple goal — I wanted to make a positive educational impact on the lives of others. If I could accomplish that one goal, then my life would not be in vain. If I could influence or motivate just one child in my classroom, a small piece of my mother’s sacrifice would be reciprocated.”

This is Lockette’s second Teacher of the Year nomination, and while she says she is humbled by the recognition, she said that’s not why she is in the classroom.

“To see my students grow, learn and become better individuals each year are, by far, the most important contributions I make,” Lockette, who holds a bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education from Fort Valley State University, said.

The other seven TOY finalists are William Wright III, Albany Middle; Sequaous Walker, Robert Cross Middle; Carol Boges, West Town Elementary; Jane Maples, Lake Park Elementary; Kanese Rachel, Lincoln Elementary; Timothy Hardwick, Radium Springs Elementary, and Docoras Robinson, Turner Elementary.

Dougherty County’s 2018 Teacher of the Year will be announced at a banquet at 6 p.m. Friday at the Merry Acres Events Center.