Jackson State University alum Sharon Rainey is the only one of her family’s 18 siblings to attend college, and now she has earned a specialist degree that allows her to continue living her dream of working as a public school teacher in the same building where she once scrubbed toilets as a custodian.
Rainey, who has been employed as a first-grade teacher at Jackson Public Schools’ McLeod Elementary for five years, received her third JSU degree Friday, Dec. 9, during fall commencement in the Lee E. Williams Athletics and Assembly Center on the main campus. She smiled broadly as interim JSU president Rod Paige greeted her onstage in front a crowd that witnessed her and nearly 200 others accept their advanced degrees.
With a background of sweeping and cleaning classrooms, the instructor – who also has taught at John Hopkins and Barr elementary schools – said her past experience allows her to more effectively motivate students to dream big. “I tell them my life is a perfect example of what you can accomplish when you set your mind to something. I give God all the glory for JSU and my family.” She’s especially grateful for the support from her husband and their two adult sons.
Even to this day, she said her students remain stunned that she once worked as a custodian, and she’s not ashamed to tell them that her job was to “make sure everything they touched in the classroom was sanitized.” Rainey credits instructors in her elementary building for “shaping and molding me.”
As a matter of fact, one of her JPS teacher-colleagues remembers when Rainey worked as a custodian.
Joann Marshall, an elementary instructor at McLeod, said, “I remember her being a very nice person. It’s wonderful that she has come as far as she has in life. She’s very inspiring.”
Dr. Tony Latiker, who was Rainey’s adviser during her master’s program at JSU, said he marvels at Rainey’s fortitude.
Latiker, an associate professor of Early Elementary and Childhood Education, described her as a role model and one who exudes strength. “Sharon Rainey has always been a really dedicated student, even persevering through illness. She could have easily given up, but once she sets a goal, she sticks to it. She’s one of those professionals we’re really proud of.”
Judy King, who retired from JPS in 2015 after 32 years in the classroom but still works as a teacher-mentor at McLeod, offered high praise to Rainey. She said students and professionals regard Rainey as “a passionate instructor.” King, a former WAPT-TV Teacher of the Month, said, “I’ve watched her as a teacher. She does well with the students and puts her heart into her job. She’s fun, loving and always does her best. She wants students to consider their future and treats them like one of her own children.”
Meanwhile, Rainey flashed back to her earlier years. She recounts that while the salary was meager, her role as a custodian at JPS was actually one of her easiest jobs. Although she’s just 56, which is not old by today’s measures, Rainey said she grew up poor on a Clarksdale plantation until age 12. She remembers helping her siblings “pick and pull cotton” with their parents, both of whom are now deceased. “I thank God for a better job and that I don’t have to do that anymore. That sun was blazing hot.” While lamenting the era was difficult, she said she still reminisces that the “good ol’ days was a period when family took care of each other with no fear about random shootings and killings that have become so prevalent in our communities today.”
After their father died, Rainey’s eldest brother sought to avoid foster homes for the younger children. So, half went with him to Chicago and the other half stayed with an older sister in coastal Mississippi. Consequently, she chose to stay in Moss Point because Rainey, the 12th child, didn’t want to be separated from her twin sister.
During her teen years in the mid-70s, she began working as a laborer at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula but eventually quit school in the second semester of her 12th-grade year. “I really thought I had it going on. I was making good money, so I decided I didn’t need a GED or high school diploma. However, my eyes opened when I relocated to Jackson.”
She moved to the capital city in 1984 with her husband, whom she had married after just six months of courtship. There, Rainey began working at Winn Dixie supermarket and later McDonald’s. Eventually, she accepted a custodial position at JPS and gained a strong appreciation for the school atmosphere.
“I loved seeing the students and cleaning their classrooms. I did this for seven years. Eventually, I told the principal that I would go to school to become a teacher because ‘I believe I can teach.’ I shared the news with my family, and they were so proud of me. My oldest brother said, ‘You’ll be the first in the family to go to college.’ ” He immediately offered his blessings.
Acknowledging that her parents didn’t have a background in education but supported school for their children, she would later earn her GED. “I worked during the day and went to school at night,” Rainey said.
[pullquote align=”right”]While the salary was meager, her role as a custodian at JPS was actually one of Rainey’s easiest jobs. She grew up poor on a Clarksdale plantation until age 12. She said she remembers helping her siblings ‘pick and pull cotton’ with their parents. ‘I thank God for a better job and that I don’t have to do that anymore. That sun was blazing hot.’ – JSU alum Sharon Rainey[/pullquote]Her love for children led her to enroll at JSU, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in social work in 2003 because “it ties into teaching.” Her work with a private school and internship at Catholic Charities of Jackson helped her secure a role as a substitute teacher at JPS’ Whitten Middle School.
Rainey said, “I wasn’t the brightest student in the classroom,” but she succeeded in gaining all her formal education at JSU, including her master’s in elementary education in 2006.
Despite her many degrees, life for her and her family hasn’t been a bed of roses. Still, they were determined to persevere.
She has three brothers suffering various types of cancers, but Rainey still conveys to them she would never let them down and vows to “continue making something out of myself.”
Rainey, too, had a cancer scare two years ago. A lump was found on one of her breasts. As she headed into surgery, she said her doctor abruptly ordered another test, which miraculously showed no metastasis or malignancy. “The spot is still there, but it hasn’t grown any larger,” she said. Thus, she dodged a bullet, of sorts.
Now, a missing person’s report has consumed her family. A daughter of one of Rainey’s older sisters hasn’t been seen since Sept. 1. Concern grows daily for that daughter – a former JSU student who delayed her education after pregnancies. The unfortunate disappearance of Tammyetta Spaulding, 37, leaves two children, ages 7 and 13, in the care of their grandmother. Questions persist regarding her whereabouts.
“I credit my determination because this has been so tough on all of us,” Rainey said. Still, she said God hasn’t forsaken us. She cites Jeremiah 29:11, which says, “For I know the plans I have for you. They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”
Despite tragedies and tribulations, the huge family continues to support one another and inspires many who face strife or question their ability to succeed.
Moreover, Rainey said she’s eternally grateful for JSU’s influence in her life.
“Jackson State really pushed me. There were many great counselors there who were all about the students, making sure that we would be successful. My mother and father would have been so proud to see me walking across the stage to receive my degrees,” she said.