Preparing for her sixth year of teaching first graders at Early Primary School, Camille James has followed in the footsteps of several members of her family.

“I grew up in a family of educators,” James said. “My mom, my grandma, so many aunts, so many cousins. We joke that we can start our own school with just the family members we have in education. Seeing their impact on students made me super excited to be the best teacher I could be and do that for my students.”

James attended school in Cisco, where during a trying time in her life a pair of teachers made a lasting impression.

“I had some teachers growing up, Ms. Lee in eighth grade and Coach Whatley my ninth grade year, that really impacted me to become who I am as a person,” James said. “I wanted to be that for the students I would have in my classroom. My father had actually passed away around that time so I was struggling and those teachers went above and beyond and I could see the impact that made on other students.”

James went on to attend Howard Payne University, and has a connection with several teachers in Brown County who also made an impact on her.

“Going to Howard Payne I’ve observed a lot of teachers and did my student teaching under a lot of teachers around here,” James said.

The decision to teach first grade was one of chance for James.

“I started teaching right before COVID hit and it was one of the job openings available, but I fell in love with that age group because they’re super loving still and not too cool to learn,” James said. “In my grade they’re learning to read and you have to trust the process with them coming in knowing how to read a little bit, but you just keep pushing them and seeing them finally learn to read is just awesome.”

As for the most rewarding aspect of her role as a teacher for youngsters, James said, “I just love building relationships around my kids because that’s what everything is centered around. My class is really like my family and every year I want to create an atmosphere where they feel super loved and super safe to be able to live their life. Once you have that solid relationship with them, you’re able to learn so much and accomplish so much together because you have their respect and the ‘want to’ to do good by each other. I try to inspire them to be their best in every situation.”

The biggest joys in the classroom for James include, “Obviously seeing the light bulb go off with reading, and at the end of the year looking back on the year at all they’ve learned. I look back and think about how much I’ll miss a certain group, but I’ve said that every year.”

Looking ahead to the future, James is most looking forward to, “Getting to impact more families in Early. Now I’m getting siblings so I get to connect with the families even more and pour into them.”

James’ husband, Landon, works in real estate appraising and also serves as youth pastor at Rocky Creek Baptist Church.

“We get to hang out with kids all the time,” James said.