Jackson Free Press

The Greater Jackson Chamber Partnership named Christopher Evans, a math teacher at Callaway High School, as a 2018 Metro Teacher of the Year, along with Richard Jones of Spann Elementary. Evans told the Jackson Free Press that the chamber first informed him he had received the distinction in early March, and it later honored Evans and Jones during a luncheon at the Old Capitol Inn in Jackson on April 12.

Evans, 41, was born in Jackson and has been living in Madison since 2007. He graduated from Callaway in 1994 and went on to Jackson State University, where he initially majored in software engineering; however, he changed his goal from designing computer language to teaching after he volunteered as a counselor for Camp Beacon, a summer camp for at-risk youth, in 1995.

"After I started working with the boys at that camp, I quickly saw how a positive influence could turn their lives around over the course of one summer," Evans said. "The lady who ran the camp, Charlene Eichelberger, told all of the counselors when we got there that a lot of the kids would be rough around the edges, but that consistent love and positivity would bring about changes quickly when they saw that we were sincere and building them up instead of tearing them down.

"I was doubtful at first, but I saw them turn a corner after the first week. A lot of these kids had seen gang violence and broken homes, and plenty of kids would be angry over that, but putting energy into helping those kids restored them. After the camp was over, I came back that fall and switched my major to mathematics education. People I knew told me that there wasn't a lot of money in teaching, but at that point it didn't matter to me because it was a calling, not a profession."

Evans graduated from JSU with a bachelor's degree in mathematics education in 1999 and took his teaching job at Callaway that same year. In addition to his work at Callaway, he has also taught classes for JSU's Science, Technology, Engineering and Math, or S.T.E.M., summer-camp program and Tougaloo College's Upward Bound program, and has also taught teachers through Microsoft's Power to Teach program, which helps educators learn to use technology better in the classroom. Evans is also a member of the Jackson Public Schools professional development team, which is a group of senior teachers that help train new teachers in the district to develop lesson plans and manage their classrooms. He is also a curriculum writer for the JPS math curriculum team and a member of the Mississippi Association of Educators.

"When I heard that I had been selected for this honor I was surprised because in this profession you do your job and don't expect a lot of accolades and 'ataboys,'" Evans said. "I hear a lot of people talk about what teacher's aren't doing and not what we are, and it seems not a lot of people line up to say they appreciate what we're doing. It's kind of like pastors and preachers, who are also expected to do that job, and it's just their calling to do it. The reason I'm a teacher is because it's my calling, and that's why being chosen for this honor was something that was humbling, exciting and shocking all at the same time."

Evans and his wife, Toni, have been married for 15 years. They have a 12-year-old son named Gabriel and a 7-year-old daughter named Cori.