Tammy Needham Memorial Scholarship

Sitting there in my first-grade classroom, a fire was lit in me. I knew someday I wanted to be a teacher just like Miss Rose. I watched her teach with passion, positivity, and a caring heart. She was fun, and her laughter drew children to her. Miss Rose taught for many years and influenced many children, but sadly, she was taken from this world much too early after a battle with breast cancer. She may be gone from this world, but her legacy lives on in the lives of her students. I believe she would be proud to see me pursue a degree in education today, knowing she played a part in lighting that fire in me. At the age of 20, I became a teacher in one of the small Mennonite schools I had attended as an elementary student. As a Mennonite girl, attending college for a degree in elementary education was not an option. There were teaching seminars/classes, and I learned under a master teacher, but there was no college education. I only had an eighth-grade formal education, but I learned much by observing other teachers and working first under the tutelage of a veteran teacher. That veteran teacher's experience of almost twenty years in the classroom gave me valuable feedback on how to teach to capture my students' attention. Teaching was such a fulfilling job for me. No other job was as demanding or consuming as teaching, but neither was there one so fulfilling to me. I knew I had found my calling. Seeing a child's eyes light up when they finally understood a concept was a joy. Spending six hours a day with my students was a big responsibility and a gift I did not take lightly. We became like a little family in that classroom. Still, years later, when I see my former students, I feel a kinship with them, and I feel proud of them even though I am no longer involved in their lives or culture. Next to being a mom, being a teacher was the most fulfilling responsibility I have had. Now that I have left the conservative Mennonite culture I grew up in, I am working on a degree in elementary education to get back into the classroom. I would love to teach in a private school (or another small school setting because I love the multi-level classroom). Also, since I am a wife and mom now, I would like the flexibility of online teaching.

My name is Jameson Fleenor. I am a senior at Sundance High School. I am exceptionally active in my school and community through organizations such as 4-H, FFA, youth group, student council, basketball, football, and track. I am also a leader. I am the president of both our FFA Chapter and our school’s student council. I was also a captain on both the football and basketball teams. In the classroom, I have kept a 4.0 GPA for my high school career. I have also taken many college-level classes including Math 1400, English Comp 1, and Comp 2. I am currently ranked first in a senior class of twenty-seven. The person that initially spiked my interest in engineering was Tammy Needham herself. Miss Needham was my fourth-grade teacher at Sundance Elementary School. Looking back on my fourth-grade experience, it was evident that she saw my STEM-oriented mind, and she pushed me to use it to my fullest potential. Miss Needham assigned many problem-solving and building assignments that allowed me to find an interest in the subject. Miss Needham pushed for STEM in and out of the classroom. During my fourth grade year, she convinced me to participate in Destination Imagination, in which she was the leader. During my year in DI, I had to work with my team to build a structure out of popsicle sticks that would hold as much weight as possible. After months of brainstorming and problem-solving, our team had a design ready that held the most weight at state DI and we were able to win the division and qualify for DI Nationals. I cite this as the first event that got me interested in engineering. With the degree I am pursuing, I plan to become a civil engineer. The field has good job security and opportunities that I want to tackle. In my job, I want to be innovative. I want to be able to help influence new techniques and technologies that will improve the way the job is carried out. I want to be a valued employee, allowing me to reap the benefits and help my firm or company to perform better. The degree will set me up to be able to provide a steady income that will allow me to provide for my family. It will also help me and my family to be able to travel to the various places that I have wanted to visit since I was young. At the top of this list is Greece, where I would love to see the ancient architecture I have learned about in school. Getting a degree is an extremely crucial part of my life plan, and the Tammy Needham Memorial Scholarship would be very helpful in letting me pursue it.