If JasMarie Milo McCarroll was a tree, her roots in Love County, specifically Marietta, would run deep. McCarroll attended Marietta Public Schools for 13 years, graduating from MHS in 2009. All three of her siblings are MHS grads – Sam in 2005, LaPresha in 2010, and Joy in 2011.
Both of her parents, Elizabeth Milo (Class of ’89) and Michael Willis (Class of ’92), graduated from MHS. And three of her four grandparents attended school in Love County, with one, Dorothy Willis, graduating from Marietta.
The people who’ve known McCarroll the longest and best, knew she was meant to be in the classroom. A good student, she was always the kid who wanted to help others with their homework and tried to “mother” everyone in her class – even though they were the same age as she was.
McCarroll, too, knew it was her destiny.
“I always knew growing up that I wanted to be two things in life, an involved mama and a kind teacher,” McCarroll explained. “To me, those things go hand in hand. I have a very strong love for children, mine and those I consider to be mine.”
Getting married and starting a family postponed McCarroll’s plans for college, but after being a fulltime mom to Caiden, Caisten, and CaMille for a time, she did begin her collegiate journey with her eye on a degree in education.
When you add all those things together, it’s not a surprise that McCarroll would end up back home in Marietta teaching in the same school where she once learned.
McCarroll is still a couple of credits shy of her bachelor’s degree but has entered her first year of teaching as an adjunct faculty member. To address the profound teacher shortage in Oklahoma, schools may adjunct teachers to fill positions. All adjuncts must be approved by the local and state boards of education.
There are both certified and non-certified adjuncts who teach in areas in which they are not currently certified, but they must have specialized knowledge in the area in which they are adjuncted. Most adjunct teachers at Marietta hold standard certifications but are teaching in another area.
Some adjuncts, like McCarroll, are finishing up their education degree and will soon be fully certified.
“When I was approached about this position, I was excited to learn that I could teach while finishing my bachelor’s,” said McCarroll. “Being in the classroom has really helped validate my passion for education and made me even more excited to complete my degree.”
Adjunct teachers at Marietta are encouraged to take the steps to become certified within three years.
“The ability to adjunct has allowed us to fill positions we otherwise could not have filled, sometimes keeping us from cutting programs,” said Marietta Public Schools’ Superintendent Brandi Naylor. “We are grateful to our legislators for allowing this flexibility, and especially in Mrs. McCarroll’s case because it allowed us to hire a alumnus with an investment in and a love for our district.”
This year McCarroll is part of the team that teaches third grade science and social studies and insists that she couldn’t have asked for a better group of people to spend her first year of teaching with. Over one-fourth of the way into her inaugural year, she is certain that teaching is the career for her.
“I really enjoy seeing the kids' love for education grow. It’s a big part of why I feel so strongly about education coming from kind-hearted teachers,” she said, “because that’s the way it was for me here at Marietta.”
McCarroll mentioned a few of her teachers, some of whom spent years of their lives, if not their entire careers, investing themselves in the lives of Marietta students – names like Shari Hallum, Rosa Knight, Nolona Chaney, Gary Colby, Bill Johnson, and Denise Sanders, to name a few.
“These people taught me to love learning, they pushed me when I needed to be pushed, and they taught me that teachers can teach but still love their students unconditionally,” remarked McCarroll. “I knew that when I became a teacher, I wanted my students to see in me these people that I loved so much.”
Coming back home to teach is nostalgic, no doubt. There are times when McCarroll believes she can almost hear the voices of her teachers echoing in the halls, and it’s something precious to her, something she enjoys.
“Life’s funny,” she said, “I teach on the same team as Shari Hallum, my first grate teacher, and I get those same big hugs and words of affirmation daily as an adult, just like I got them as a six-year-old. It’s the best.”
If JasMarie Milo McCarroll was a tree, she’d have deep roots at Marietta. But she’s branching out now, and her end goal is to be the biggest, best tree on campus.