New members named to Teacher Advisory Council

Special to The Clinton Courier

The Mississippi Department of Education (MDE) recently announced the addition of fifty-two highly regarded education professionals from across the state to serve on the Mississippi Teacher Advisory Council (MTAC) for the 2022-23 school year.

Among those selected were Meredith Jierski and Stephanie Peabody from Northside Elementary School and Jennifer Loshelder from Eastside Elementary School.

“We are excited to have the opportunity to lend our voices to this year’s council,” Loshelder said. “We’re happy to represent teachers in our district and all over the state.”

“The teachers in Clinton are doing great things every single day, and we need to share what has worked here with others,” Jierski said. “But, just as much as we can share, we know we can learn from the other educators in this group.”

Peabody said there was no Clinton representation on last year’s council, so she’s thrilled to be part of this year’s group.

“We’re happy to provide a voice for our school district statewide when changes are presented,” she said.

The MTAC, formed in 2016, now includes 309 educators representing schools in urban and rural settings and an array of content areas, including general education, arts, special education and career and technical education.

The MTAC aims to empower teachers to discuss topics critical to their success in the classroom and to share suggestions on how MDE can assist. In addition, members will provide feedback on a variety of MDE initiatives.

“It is so important to hear first-hand accounts from Mississippi teachers about how MDE’s work on the state level affects their work on the local level,” said Dr. Kim Benton, interim state superintendent of education. “I look forward to meeting all MTAC members during sessions in the coming months as we collaborate to achieve successful student outcomes.”

For a full list of the new MTAC members, visit MDEK12.org/SSE/Council.