Alyce Clarke Award: Hazlehurst teacher finds strength in students after personal loss
By Brooklyn Joyner
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HAZLEHURST, Miss. (WAPT) — Dr. Veronica Wiley, a teacher at Hazlehurst High School, has been named the Alyce Clarke Award recipient for February.
Wiley has been working at Hazlehurst High School for seven years, teaching biology and environmental science courses. She believes it’s important for students to see someone who looks like them succeed in this field.
“I spent a year interning at NASA. I earned a couple of degrees while I was here so, my students have really seen that as an option,” Wiley said. “They never really paid attention to that before and that means a lot to me.”
In addition to her teaching duties, Wiley coaches the boys basketball team and sponsors the robotics team, maintaining a busy schedule.
“I try to stay busy; it keeps me out of trouble,” she said.
At the start of the year, Wiley faced unimaginable loss.
“The beginning of the school year, I lost my grandfather, my cousin and my dad in the first 30 days of school so it has been very difficult,” she said.
Despite her grief, Wiley finds motivation in her students, who serve as her inspiration to persevere.
“What they have and who they are is good enough. Never minimize yourself because God created you a certain way,” she said.
Her students, in turn, express their admiration and support for her.
“Congratulations, Ms. Wiley, and we love you so much, and just continue to do you because that’s just everything that a student could ask for from a teacher,” said Lundyn Collins, a student at Hazlehurst High School.
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