By Charlotte Underwood

JACKSBORO, TN (WLAF) – Jacksboro Middle School’s Librarian Trish McKamey is WLAF’s teacher of the week. McKamey taught in the classroom for 21 years before becoming a librarian last year. 

Trish McKamey has lived in Campbell County all her life and is a 1993 graduate from Campbell County High School.

Most of her 21 years of teaching was spent in the classroom as a middle school Language Arts teacher. She also “enjoyed five years” at Caryville Elementary School teaching fourth grade Language Arts. 

McKamey said she wanted to be a teacher since she was in the fourth grade. 

“I had an old math book my teacher had given me, and I wrote all the answers in it and used it as my “ teacher’s manual.” In high school Mrs. Sherry Ayers showed me what love from a teacher looked like. She was an amazing teacher who truly cared about her students,” McKamey said.

Another teacher that inspired her career was  Mr. Fred Grantham, who “instilled a love of grammar and reading.”

“I’ll never forget getting a 100 on Mr. Grantham’s Macbeth project. He told me himself that no one ever made a 100 on his assignments. I was very proud of that accomplishment,” McKamey said. It was a college professor that helped steer McKamey towards Language Arts even more.

“In college, Dr. Martha Johnson took me under her wing. It was through her that I realized I wanted to focus on language arts and middle school education. She allowed me to work for her as a graduate student so I could receive my master’s degree without cost,” McKamey said.

Those three teachers will always hold a special place in her heart. 

Her favorite part about her job is inspiring kids to read. “Now that I’m a librarian, I can still share reading with my students, but now I can see students at every grade level and hopefully inspire them to pick up a book and read, either through my library lessons or book talks,” McKamey said.

Everyone has hard days here and there, but “knowing that we, as teachers, are helping students is what keeps me going. I love what I do. I have to admit that working in the library is a different world, but teaching is in my blood. I would never want to leave the education system,” McKamey said. (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED – 10/21/2021-6AM)

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