Jackson Free Press

Shae Goodman-Robinson's life is centered in west Jackson. She was born and raised in the area. Her parents, Alex and Lula Goodman, still live in her childhood home, and her children (son, Cornelius, 17, and daughter, Tori, 16) attend Jim Hill High School, her alma mater. Two years ago, Goodman-Robinson returned to work at her old elementary school, Sister Thea Bowman Catholic School.

"I've come back to where I received my educational and spiritual foundation," the 52-year-old says. "I'm trying to give back to this community for all that I've received."

Goodman-Robinson is the principal of the small religiously affiliated school that teaches approximately 60 children from pre-kindergarten through sixth grade. The school formed in 2006 as a merger of St. Mary and Christ the King Catholic schools, founded in 1954. Though the school provides a Catholic foundation, children from different Christian faiths attend the school from across the Jackson metro area.

When she was growing up, Goodman-Robinson thought she might become a lawyer. But she has great respect for educators; five of her father's six sisters were teachers.

"I think teachers are the pivotal influence in most peoples' lives. Behind a doctor, there's a teacher. Behind the president, there are teachers. It takes a teacher to educate the greats," Goodman-Robinson says.

During the summer when she was young, she would tutor her peers in a variety of subjects under her family's carport. It showed that she was destined to be a teacher, she says.

Goodman-Robinson received her bachelor's and master's degrees in science education from the University of Southern Mississippi in 1982 and 1983, respectively. She has worked in all types of educational roles for more than 20 years.

A Catholic, Goodman-Robinson also finds her job spiritually gratifying. She strives to live by the example of the school's namesake, Sister Thea Bowman, an African American nun of the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration who was born in Yazoo City.

Sister Bowman shared the message of God's love through her teaching career, Goodman-Robinson says, and she is glad to be able to do the same. "I am happy that I can provide a loving, Christ-centered learning environment," she says.

Goodman-Robinson absolutely adores the children she works with. One of the more rewarding parts of her job, she says, is seeing the light-bulb go off when a child learns something new.

"You can't do anything but smile when a student gives you a big hug and says eagerly, 'Guess what I learned today?'" she says. "I love to see the light in their eyes."