WKU News

Delvagus Jackson (’94, ’01) of Morganfield, Ky., is the eighth of nine children and when growing up he didn’t hear much about college. In fact, he was the first in his family to graduate from college, even after being told numerous times college wasn’t for him.

“For so many years prior to enrolling at WKU, college never was introduced as an option,” explained Jackson. “I was told a few times in so many words along the way, that I just wasn’t college material. I was grateful to have been accepted into WKU.”

Once on the Hill, Jackson faced more struggle when it came to choosing his career path. He always had a passion for helping others and found himself helping his peers with math homework at WKU.

“Early on I didn’t think that I would qualify for the WKU Education Program,” Jackson stated. “I was encouraged by a friend to seek this career path, and my career in education now spans 23 years.”

Jackson said his time at WKU was filled with support from many people and it’s something he’s very grateful for.

“I found numerous support systems along the way from a variety of sources in the Math, Economics, Resident Life and Teacher Education Departments,” Jackson added. “Angels come in a variety of forms and WKU has plenty of Angels looking out for their students.

Jackson left home at 17-years-old and never returned to live under his parents roof. “While attending WKU I learned how to prioritize, make sacrifices and how to be truly independent,” Jackson expressed.

He started off teaching math and physics in 1995 at Union County High School in Morganfield, Ky. In 1996, Jackson started teaching math at Warren Central High School. In 2003, he was hired on as Assistant Principal at Simpson County Middle School. One year later he became Assistant Principal at Bowling Green Junior High School. In 2015, he served as interim Principal at Parker-Bennett-Curry (PBC) Elementary School and officially became the Head Principal in 2016.

At PBC, Jackson and Danny Carothers, a community leader, started having discussions about their concerns for a lack of character education being taught to the students. “I don’t want to say that character education is not being taught in households today, that would be making a strong assumption,” Jackson affirmed. “However, I do feel that it’s in our best interest to support and mold proper behaviors in all of our students.”

That’s how the programs ‘Boys to Men’ and ‘Girls with Pearls’ came about. Every Friday, the boys and girls who achieve their good behavior goals set up ahead of time, get to wear pearls or ties as a reward. “We focus on positive, respectful behavior with our students,” Jackson emphasized. “We also attempt to expose our students to a variety of professional careers by bringing in local guest speakers. We want our students to see the many career options that are available in hopes that they will strive to achieve any of their interest.”

It’s a team effort with various teachers, staff, volunteers and mentors involved. Members of the WKU Football team and Phi Alpha Phi Fraternity show up on Fridays to help support the programs. “I take pride that we have something extracurricular going for our students,” said Jackson. “I take extra pride that we have programs for both our boys and girls. I love the support that we have received from our community and I greatly appreciate the sacrifices made by our staff to bring this about. We simply do these programs because we love our kids, we are trying to support their needs and support our community.”

Look for the larger story on the impact that the ‘Boys to Men’ and ‘Girls with Pearls’ programs are having on students in the Spring/Summer edition of the WKU SPIRIT Magazine.