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Meet Mendenhall’s Jr. High School Administrative Staff for the 2018-2019 School year.
Sydney Magee is beginning her nineteenth year in education as the principal of Mendenhall Jr. High. She is the daughter of Bill and Martha Salters of Natchez and the granddaughter of the late Jim and Jessie Carlisle of Natchez and the late Marshall and Joann Salters of Mendenhall. She is married to Tony Magee and they have two children, Skyler and Mylie. Sydney began her teaching career in Natchez, MS as an assistant teacher in the Natchez-Adams School District at West Primary School. After graduating with a BA in Elementary Education, she taught in the Rankin County School System and the Simpson County School System. Over the years, she has taught preschool, kindergarten, first grade, second grade, and fifth grade. In 2007, Sydney graduated with a Masters in Elementary Education and a license in Administration. She began and coordinated the READ TO ME campaign for the Simpson County School District to raise the awareness of the importance of reading to children. She was chose as the Teacher of the Year for Mendenhall Elementary and the District Teacher of the Year for the Simpson County School District in 2008. Sydney has worked as the lead teacher at Mendenhall Jr. High for the past four years and in administrative capacity for six years. She is passionate about education and is very excited to continue working with the students in Simpson County as the principal of Mendenhall Jr. High.
Nick Lee is the new Assistant Principal at Mendenhall Junior High. He has been in Education for 10 years as a Teacher/Coach in Simpson County at Mendenhall High School for 1 year, Florence High School for 1 year, and most recently serving 8 years at Mize Attendance Center. He is married to Katy Campbell Lee and they have an 8 year old son, Campbell, as well as a 5 year old daughter, Andee. Nick is an active member of Goodwater Baptist Church where he serves as a Sunday School teacher for the 7-12 grade boys, as well as belonging to many committees. He and his family reside in Magee, and he is very excited to begin his new role in the Simpson County School District.
Tressie Gwynn James is the new lead teacher at Mendenhall Jr. High. Gwynn is the daughter of Larry and Nan Boone of White Oak. She is married to Art James of Puckett and they have three daughters: Alyssa, Shelby, and Rilee Nan. Gwynn begins this new position with 21 years in education. During her first 17 years, she taught every subject area in second, third, fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth grade. She has served as the librarian at MJH for the past four years. Gwynn has a passion for teaching and learning. She graduated with honors from the University of Southern Mississippi with a BA in elementary education and graduated with honors from William Carey University with a Masters in elementary education. Gwynn has been a National Board Certified Teacher since 2005.
Hi, my name is Chassity Corkern, and I was raised most of my life in a small town named Seminary, MS. Before that, we moved around with my Dad, who was in the U.S. Army. I attended kindergarten in Germany, but I don’t remember much about it. I have two sisters who are both educators as well. After high school, I went to Jones Junior College, where I spent 6 years trying to decide between school and work. Once I became serious about graduating, I transferred to William Carey College and majored in Elementary Education. I graduated in May of 1999, and married the love of my life 5 months later. I began my teaching career at Scott Central Attendance Center as a 5th grade teacher. I taught for the next 8 years in numerous grade levels at different schools. We moved a lot due to my husband’s job. In 2005, I accepted a job at Magee Middle School as a Compensatory Reading teacher. I began my Master of Education program in School Counseling soon after, and graduated two years later from the University of Western Alabama. My career as a school counselor began at Magee Elementary in 2007, and I was part of the staff there for 8 years. It was during this time, I became a mother to two wonderful boys, named Dylan and Jack. Due to Jack being born with several health issues that at one point was life threatening, I decided to become a stay at home mom for a year until we moved closer to my parents. Once my parents were able to care for Jack, I accepted a job at Magee High School as a resource teacher. I thoroughly enjoyed working with a great group of kids, but decided to try and get back to school counseling. It was such a blessing to become a part of the team at Mendenhall Junior High last year. I could not have asked God for a better place to put me. I wake up every day so grateful to be a Tiger! This year is going to be the best, because we have an outstanding leadership team, awesome teachers and great kiddos! I look forward to working with the students, parents and staff at MJH.
