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Jackson Academy has named seniors Sophie Henderson and Aniya Bradley valedictorian and salutatorian for the Class of 2025. Both students will address the audience at the Jackson Academy graduation ceremonies to be held at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 15 in the Brickyard, the outdoor sports stadium, on JA’s campus. The weather site is Christ United Jackson on 6000 Old Canton Road.
The Mississippi Economic Council sponsors the Student-Teacher Achievement Recognition (STAR) Program to encourage scholastic achievement among high school students and to recognize the teaching profession. Jackson Academy’s STAR students are Sophie Henderson, who selected Ann Boswell Carlson as her STAR teacher, and Miller Usry, who selected Sara Bannerman as his STAR teacher. STAR students are chosen based on having the highest ACT score in the graduating class, along with other academic achievements.
Students concentrated and cheered, gestured and jumped, teamed up and tested themselves individually as they implemented the lessons learned in Jackson Academy’s STEM classes. The second STEM in the Gym science extravaganza energized fifth graders with science, technology, engineering, and math challenges. Rotating through four stations, they put into action the knowledge and skills learned during their Lower School STEM education.
Jackson Academy senior Brooke Dennis has been named a Gates Scholar and member of The Gates Scholarship Class of 2025. She is one of 750 students from a nationwide pool of 48,000 applicants to receive the honor this year. In the award notification, the Gates Foundation noted: “You now belong to an elite group of young leaders—all of whom represent the very pinnacle of academic achievement, service, and commitment.”
This morning, kindergartners and their senior Alpha and Omega buddies gathered for the seniors’ final chapel program. Before the service, the Alpha and Omega pairs paraded hand in hand in front of Preschool and Lower School students and senior parents, who were cheering as seniors took another step toward graduation. During chapel, while their omegas watched from the auditorium seats, the alphas sang “Graduation” by Vitamin C to their senior buddies, celebrating the lasting impact of friendship.
One of the most anticipated traditions each year at JA is Senior Awards Night, held last Tuesday evening. At this event, JA announces members of the Hall of Fame, Most Beautiful, Most Handsome, Beauties and Beaux, Mr. and Miss JA, and Class Favorites, among other academic, service, and student life awards.
“Sometimes you have to leave home to see how wonderful something is,” said Lenwood Brooks ‘01, the 2025 recipient of the Jackson Academy’s Distinguished Alumni of the Year award. The alumnus who portrayed the Wizard in the school’s “The Wizard of Oz” production years ago was not speaking figuratively. Like Dorothy’s character in that tale, Brooks lived out a story of leaving and returning. Returning to JA, he said, made all the difference in his life.
On April 23, Jackson Academy’s K4 students celebrated World Book Day with a parade through the Lower School. Dressed as characters from their favorite books, students exhibited their costumes and props to Lower School students and teachers, sharing the stories they chose to highlight. From well-known classics to newer favorites, the parade showed the wide range of books that have captured the interest of JA’s youngest students. The event allowed them to connect what they were reading in the classroom to a fun, school-wide tradition.
Twenty nine Jackson Academy seniors received scholarship recognition in April during an event honoring students who will attend Mississippi State University in the fall. MSU President Dr. Mark Keenum spoke to the student body and recognized the recipients. Scholarship recognition included the full-ride MSU Presidential Scholarships awarded to Brooke Dennis and Law Stanley. Ella Boykin was honored with a full-ride scholarship for earning the METP Mississippi Excellence in Teaching Scholarship.
Jackson Academy recognized the 2024-2025 Teacher of the Year award recipients during a professional development day assembly held this spring. Each year, one teacher from each division is selected by their peers to receive this distinction.