“Everything changed this summer,” says Megan Logan. Ready to stay at home and teach her children, she was surprised to receive a call from Middle School Dean Matt Morgan. It was two weeks before classes would start, and Morgan asked Logan to join the Jackson Academy faculty and teach eighth grade English.
Sudden change is not new in Logan’s life. While in her junior year of college she was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma. “One day I came home from church and there was a knot,” she points to her chest, “that had not been there.” Early diagnosis gave her a good prognosis, but still meant leaving the University of Southern Mississippi for a semester and moving home to Clinton to complete treatment in Jackson.
“You would never expect something like that to happen to you in college. Nobody does,” says Logan, “but the Lord used it for good and really grew my faith during that time.” As her location changed, so did her perspective. “I said I was going to be a business woman,” she recalls. “I was going to make lots of money.” Instead, she set out to work in the same field her father and mother had made their careers in – education. “I realized what was important to me and that if I was going to work I wanted to do something that was fulfilling, and I also wanted a career that allowed me to have lots of family time, so teaching became evident that that was just what the Lord had for me.”
Logan completed her degree at Mississippi College and taught at an independent school and in the Clinton public school system with her husband, James Logan. He is now in seminary, and with four children at home it seemed impossible for Logan to take on a full time teaching position. Logan still recalls her response to Dean Morgan’s call: “I said, ‘There’s no way.’” A visit to campus for a tour and interview erased her uncertainty. “Everybody was just so warm and friendly,” says Logan. Jackson Academy’s emphasis on community quickly had her hooked. “It was an environment I was excited to bring my family into,” she says.
“Everything was just right here.” For Ella in fifth grade, Sarah in first, and Mae in kindergarten, JA provided a perfect match for Logan to teach while her children had access to quality, holistic education. Her youngest child, Henry, is two years old and spends his days under the care of an aunt.
As Logan’s family settles into the JA community, she is settling into teaching eighth grade English at a new school. She focuses on teaching students to apply grammar skills in writing. From teaching personal narratives to research papers, she exudes passion for her subject and students.
Logan knows firsthand the importance of a good teacher. At Hinds Community College, Dr. Beverly Fatherree taught Logan’s English course in such a way that “it really changed the way I thought about just about everything and how writers viewed the world and how they communicated and how [writing is] so important that it touches all aspects of life.”
As Megan Logan works to impact the lives of her students, she seeks to do more than teach ideas. She seeks to embrace the opportunity her visit to JA showed her – an opportunity to become part of a community. “I really do feel like the teachers here all care about the students,” she says. “It’s not just academics. Academics are very important, but it feels like a family.”
