Teaching part of life for Wilson

Sat, May 17 2008

— Ginger Wilson, Ninnekah’s newest national board certified teacher, was finally recognized after life forced delays in her teaching goals.
Wilson got her start in Waurika. She grew up in Waurika and graduated from high school there in 1966. Teaching was something Wilson always saw in her future.
“I had such wonderful teachers,” she said. “They inspired me and they were great role-models. I was very fortunate.”
Wilson’s goal through out her career has been for students to experience success, develop self-confidence, and realize learning is fun.
Wilson received her bachelor’s degree in 1969 from OCLA, which is now USAO. She then started to teach second grade at Ninnekah Elementary. During her summer breaks Ginger went on to earn her Master’s degree in 1973 from Southeastern State University in Durant.
In 2004, Wilson had already begun the long, intensive process to achieving national board certification. At the end of the school year Wilson retired to care for her elderly father, but never actually quit teaching. In August 2004, she began teaching reading part time at Ninnekah. Wilson didn’t miss anything, since she was back to start off the next year.
“I love teaching,” she said. “I really appreciated the school working with me and fitting my class times with my schedule, but I’m so glad to be back full time this year.”
She has taught at Ninnekah for 39 years (36 full time and 3 part time), and it is the only school where she has ever taught. Wilson considers Ninnekah Elementary her home away from home and said she loved the school
“The parents, students, and teachers at Ninnekah Elementary School are great,” Wilson said about why she likes teaching at Ninnekah.
Ginger is still teaching at Ninnekah and living in Chickasha. She recently became a nationally certified teacher in early childhood education. To be certified, she took tests, video taped her classes, and created a portfolio. It is a performance based process, which took many hours of work.
“It wasn’t something I had to do, I just wanted to,” Wilson said. “I wanted to know that I was being the best teacher I could be for my students.”

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