Brookland-Cayce High School EDUCATOR HALL OF FAME
MS. BEVERLY JO JACKSON Inducted 2010
Beverly Jo Jackson was born August 25, 1948, in Newberry, SC, to Frances and Jo Jackson. She began her schooling at Blake and Central Elementary Schools before graduating from Laurens High School in 1966. Beverly was very active at Laurens, where she participated in the Beta Club, the school newspaper, and the Quill and Scroll. She was also President of the French Club, as well as the lead in the Junior Class play. Beverly especially delighted in being one of a handful of female students who successfully took physics her senior year. After high school, Beverly attended Clemson University, where she earned a B.A. in English (1970). While at Clemson, she also earned departmental honors and was the recipient of the 1970 English Honors Key. A year later, she cemented her teacher qualifications with a Masters in Education from Emory University in Atlanta (1971). Interestingly though, Beverly was not always "dead set" on becoming a teacher, but it proved to be a very good decision. Beverly began her teaching career at Booker T. Washington, where she naturally taught English. Shortly thereafter in 1974, Beverly arrived at Brookland-Cayce High School, where she would spend over two decades teaching English. Finally, after taking a two-year writing sabbatical, she ended her formal career at Airport High School teaching her last English class in 2000. While at BCHS, Beverly proved herself as one of the school's finest teachers and a true academic. She taught not only the highest levels of academic instruction—English IV Honors, created the English AP program, English III and several mini-courses, such as humor, research, and TV/media—but she also actively assisted students who struggled in the classroom. She even took the BCHS debate team, which didn't even exist four years prior to a state title. Beverly took equal pride in starting and participating in a program designed to assist students struggling to pass the Exit Exam. Outside of the classroom, Beverly considers her most memorable "extra-curricular" activity as simply spending time with her students. Beverly's "teacher soul" has continued to blossom after retirement. In 2002, she wrote the ELA Standards and to this day serves as a Literacy Consultant for the Writing Improvement Network. Beverly also works with teachers to improve instructional techniques, serves on various standardized testing (PACT, HSAP, etc.) and textbook selection committees, works with various teacher training programs, and is a member of the Writing Improvement Coordinating Council. She has even traveled to Central America, where she taught several writing workshops. Finally, for a person who never planned to be a teacher, induction into the Hall of Fame is proof-positive that Beverly's chosen career path was the right one. Not only is she herself "forever grateful," but so, too, are the many students whose lives she touched.

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