Tiffany Jackson is the new Stoney Creek Elementary School principal. SNN gets to know her in this edition of Meet the Principal.
Other positions you have held in education: Preschool teacher, kindergarten teacher, first-grade teacher, sixth- and seventh-grade language arts teacher, high school athletic director and assistant principal, elementary principal from towns as far north as Clare County and toward the east in Ionia County
How about jobs outside education: Director for Camp Quality, a Northern Michigan camp for kids with cancer and their families; teacher consultant with the Learning to Give Project, and a church volunteer.
Education and degrees: Masters in elementary education, administration degree
Spouse/children: Husband, Dr. Chad Jackson; son, Blake; and daughter, Lauren
Hobbies/Interests: Reading books, being outside, watching my children in their various adventures with sports and music. I enjoy the symphony and musicals as well.
What kind of kid were you at the age of students at this new school? I was a teacher pleaser. I tied all of my friend’s shoes, helped them with their milk at lunch and talked to everyone — maybe too much at times.
The biggest lesson you have learned from students is… We can only see what is on the surface of each child until we build a relationship with them. After that, they show us who they really are underneath: what they love, what makes them scared, what excites them, what they are reaching for in the future. It is about caring for the whole child.
If I could go back to school I would … work on my doctorate and investigate more the effects of childhood trauma and how to have school success.
If you walked into your new school building to theme music every day, what would the song be? “Happy” by Pharrell Williams
