Bethany Wray and Will Knight are pictured with Chancellor Dan Jones.
TUPELO, Miss. – During the University of Mississippi’s annual honors convocation, two students from the university’s Tupelo regional campus were awarded prestigious Taylor Medals for academic achievement. Both honorees plan to share their passion for education with the next generation of students.
Bethany Wray, of Pontotoc, and Will Knight, of Mantachie were among the recipients of Marcus Elvis Taylor Memorial Medals at the April 10 ceremony in Oxford. Taylor Medals are awarded to no more than 1 percent of the Ole Miss student body each year. Recipients must have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.90.
Wray, who was awarded one of only four medals that went to 2014 graduates of the UM School of Education, walked across the stage to accept her college diploma nearly 25 years after she walked in her Pontotoc High School graduation in 1989.
“It took me all these years to realize the passion I have for teaching children,” Wray said. “And I couldn’t imagine doing anything else for the next 25 years.”
After working as an office manager at a furniture supplier and later as a medical transcriptionist, Wray was inspired by the impact that educators were making in the life of her son, who had been diagnosed with autism.
“I saw how my son’s teachers were so dedicated to his education and how they never gave up on him,” Wray recalled. “I knew if I could do for just one child what my son’s teachers were doing for him, then I would be a success.”
Wray applied for a kindergarten teacher’s assistant position at Pontotoc Elementary School. She says that after her first few days at work, she went home and told her husband that she planned to teach for the rest of her life.
Wray continued working while starting her first college classes at Itawamba Community College in Tupelo. She thought it might take seven or eight years to complete her education but later found out about a way to keep her job and complete her bachelor’s degree through the Ole Miss-Tupelo campus.
“I have a very supportive family,” Wray said. “My husband would work all day at North Mississippi Medical (Center) while I was working as a teacher’s assistant in Pontotoc. I would leave work to pick up the kids, feed them, start on homework and then drive over to Tupelo. The kids and I would meet my husband in the Ole Miss-Tupelo parking lot and switch the kids into his car.
“Then I would head to class for the evening, and he would head home. It took some juggling, but we made it work.”
This month, Wray completed her UM coursework and classroom observation at Pontotoc’s D.T. Cox Elementary to earn her bachelor’s degree in elementary education. She has applied for teaching positions for this fall and hopes to land a job as a third- or fourth-grade language arts teacher.
“I will encourage my students to strive to do their very best, but I will also understand individual success,” Wray said. “Sometimes a student bringing up a ‘D’ grade to a ‘C’ grade is a big accomplishment. Those students need to be praised. I want to let my students know that I believe in them. I want to inspire them and help them realize that with a little hard work and determination they can succeed.”
Discovering a passion for the life-changing effects of education also came for Knight after an adjustment in career paths.
As a student at Mantachie High School, Knight first visited a local funeral home for a class project. He saw how the funeral directors were carefully providing a service to those who were grieving. He soon talked his way into a part-time job with Holland Funeral Directors in Tupelo.
“I just felt that serving in this field seemed like such a fulfilling job and an honest day’s work,” Knight recalled. “I found out that you could do so much to help others.”
Knight thought he would spend his career helping families through the process of planning funerals, but he soon found a new calling. He transferred to the Oxford campus in fall 2011 after completing his associate’s degree at ICC.
“I enjoyed working with the community and helping families through the difficult times after a loved one passed,” Knight said. “But when I met Ole Miss English professor Colby Kullman, he really made a strong impression on me. He stressed the importance of the education profession and sharing your passion and knowledge with others.”
After Knight’s first semester in Oxford, his grandfather became ill, so he moved back to Mantachie to help his family. He enrolled at the Ole Miss-Tupelo campus in August 2012, doubled up on classes and earned his bachelor’s degree in English in August 2013.
He was accepted to both the Ole Miss and Mississippi College law schools, and planned on returning to UM but later decided to accept a spot in the Master of Community College Education program at Mississippi State University. He teaches freshman writing and composition, and plans to teach English at the college level after completing his graduate degree.
“Education, especially at the college-level, can be infectious,” Knight said. “It’s the atmosphere that is electric. Everyone is learning, discovering and working hard to achieve the same goal. It’s just really special. I think that opportunities are endless when you actually feel what you can achieve.”
For more information on programs available at the UM-Tupelo campus, go to http://www. olemiss.edu/tupelo/.