JACKSON TEACHER LOOKS FOR SUCCESS IN HER STUDENTS

JACKSON - A Jackson High School business teacher counts among her former students accountants, secretaries, bankers, business leaders, an astronaut, two colleagues in the business education department and the assistant principal at Jackson High School.

She's glad to see that success; that's her goal.

"Probably the most gratifying aspect of the job is seeing students succeed, not just in the classroom, but later in life," said the teacher, Wilma Wilcoxson.

"One special example occurred when astronaut Linda Godwin returned to speak at our high school and told me how much she used the typewriting skills I had taught her.'

Wilcoxson said one of the rewards of teaching is teaching skills that have helped students in their post-secondary studies or in securing a job.

"I am grateful to have touched their lives," she said.

Wilcoxson teaches modern office technology I and II, speedwriting, introduction to business management, and practical business. She has also taught typewriting and business math.

She also teaches outside the classroom, coordinating the supervised business experience cooperative work program.

Wilcoxson is the charter sponsor of the Jackson Future Business Leaders of America organization. The club boasts an annual membership of more than 100 members.

In 1990, she was surprised by her local FBLA chapter with a honorary life membership in Future Business Leaders of America. This was secretly orchestrated by club members.

Aric Beckham, president of the Jackson FBLA that year, said: "Through day-to-day experiences, I have seen her caring and understanding for students and other teachers. During FBLA district competitions her leadership abilities enable her to deal with the excitement, stress and basic chaos associated with it."

In addition to her teaching duties, Wilcoxson also fills a role as friend and supporter to both students and fellow workers.

She is chairman of the business education department at Jackson High School, where she has taught for 25 years. She encourages her fellow department members to further their education, to be active in professional organizations and to attend workshops and conferences. The teachers in the business education department affectionately call her "Boss Lady."

And she readily admits, she is "a bloomin' optimist."

She earned bachelor's and master's degrees from Southeast Missouri State University. Wilcoxson has served as a cooperating teacher for the university's business education students during their clinical-field experience.

Wilcoxson and her husband, Roger, have two daughters and five grandchildren.

She is an active member of New McKendree United Methodist Church. She is also a member of the Christian Motorcyclists Association and has biked through 48 continental states as well as Nova Scotia and Canada. She has served as project leader for 4-H, judged at the SEMO District Fair and served as counselor at 4-H summer camps.