Northwest Alumnus Brings His Love of Education Back to Mississippi

Northwest Mississippi Community College alumnus Dr. Jason Walton, left, is now the Head of School for Jackson Preparatory School, the largest independent secondary school in the state of Mississippi. Here, Walton discusses a military re-enactment with 10th grader Jennings Duncan during history class. (Photo by Hubert Worley, Jackson Prep)

Northwest Mississippi Community College alumnus and Mississippi native Dr. Jason Walton is back on the path where he started. Walton returned to his beloved home state last July when he took the position of Head of School at the prestigious Jackson Preparatory School.

Jackson Prep, as it is known, is an independent, co-educational, and college preparatory day school enrolling 810 students in grades six through 12. It is located on a 74-acre campus east of Jackson and is the largest independent secondary school in the state of Mississippi. In coming to Jackson Prep, Walton returned to K-12, his first love in education.

Walton considers himself a Northwest “legacy.” His parents, John William and Joanne McClure Walton met at the college. Both continued their studies at Delta State University and became long-time Mississippi educators. Born in Biloxi, he lived in Greenwood until he was in seventh grade, when his family relocated to Hernando. During his senior year, he began weighing options, and decided that Northwest was the best option for him. He knew about his parents’ positive experiences at Northwest, and his high school sweetheart, who he later married, and several friends were also coming. “The idea of going far away didn’t appeal to me. I think so many people get an opportunity to go far away, and they ignore very good options that are close by. Northwest was a great place for me to start,” Walton said.

He attended Northwest from 1992-1994, earning his Associate of Arts. While at Northwest, Walton was a member of the Hall of Fame, the highest honor a student can achieve. He was an Outstanding Student in Pre-Law, Who’s Who Among Students in American Junior Colleges, Phi Theta Kappa, a student recruiter, active in the Baptist Student Union, served on the Ranger Rocket staff and was editor of the college’s literary magazine, the Northwest Review.

“It was a good experience for me. I think you get better as a writer just by writing. Northwest, true to form, just provides those opportunities for people who are maybe thinking that is something they can do. It is kind of a safe place where you can try your hand at it. It was an early confidence builder for me, I feel like,” Walton said.

Walton says he “caught the bug” that made him want to be an educator at Northwest. He credits his instructors for instilling the love of education in him, and has stayed in touch with some of them even to this day. “They were teachers first. What makes them and community colleges special is that they just poured themselves into the lives of their students through good instruction. It’s all about helping you achieve mastery in a particular content area. You can really tell when teaching is a priority. I had the good fortune at Northwest of having several really good teachers,” Walton said.

He remembers Sandy Grisham, who taught sociology, as one who left a great impression on him. “She was amazing, and I took every class I could from her,” Walton said. He remembers Grisham taking his Social Problems class to the Veterans Hospital to visit with recently returned soldiers and her sharing her experiences as a Fulbright Scholar who had visited Pakistan. “She really did everything that an educator is supposed to do. I think the job of colleges is to show you that the world is a little bigger than your ideas about it. She opened my eyes to so much and ignited in me a curiosity that still fuels me today,” he said.

Walton credits English instructors Sturgis Monteith and Dr. Robert Bunce for developing in him a love for writing and English. “Sturgis Monteith was an amazing teacher who made very dense pieces of literature very accessible to us, just by his sheer teaching talent. Robert Bunce was very good and patient with me and helped me understand how to revise my writing through multiple drafts so that I would end up with a polished product that I could really feel happy about and pleased with,” Walton said. He also remembered his French instructor, Constance Gallant fondly. “She helped me through four semesters of French,” he laughed.

After leaving Northwest, Walton earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and master’s degree in educational leadership at The University of Mississippi. Walton taught English, served as Student Council adviser, coached tennis and became the first girls’ soccer coach at Hernando High School during four years there. He became the fourth consecutive generation in his family to teach in Mississippi.

He earned a doctorate in education leadership and policy studies from Vanderbilt University and served as associate editor of the Peabody Journal of Education before taking a position as assistant director for the Tennessee Office of Education Accountability, which provides non-partisan, objective analysis of education policy issues for many state agencies, as well as the general public. While serving the state of Tennessee, Walton was recruited to serve as director of Strategic Initiatives at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida.

While at Lynn, Walton worked to establish a strategic plan for the university. In 2006, at the age of 30, he became the chief of staff and staff liaison to the board of trustees. During this time, Walton had the idea to try to attract a presidential debate to Lynn University, and even though 40 well-known institutions applied, Lynn was chosen to host the last of three presidential debates in 2012. “I was actually inspired by the transformative impact the 2008 debate had at Ole Miss. I think it recast and reframed the way a lot of people viewed Ole Miss,” Walton said. He added that he could actually trace his love of debates back to Northwest, when he and Grisham put together a candidate’s debate after long-time Mississippi congressman Jamie Whitten retired.

“It was an election year in Mississippi, and he came to me asking if I thought we could put on a debate for the candidates at Northwest. ‘Of course,’ I said, and then got out of his way. He did the rest. That was the beginning of his ‘debate organizing’ career, the most recent of which was the 2012 Lynn University final Presidential Debate. He certainly has risen to whatever occasion presented itself to him,” Grisham said.

Walton sums up his thoughts about what a good educator is very simply. “I believe educators of consequence are lifelong learners,” Walton said. He says that is what he strives to be. He believes that having the great instructors he had at Northwest set him on the path he is on today. “I know that if I had gone straight to a four-year setting, I don’t think I would have had the good start that I had at Northwest,” he said.

“When Jason walked in the door on the first day of classes, I knew he was going places. He is a bright fellow with an easy smile, who made friends quickly, took leadership roles without hesitation and excelled at whatever he tackled. Yet he always remained humble, and never got the ‘big head.’ Northwest means a great deal to him, as it did to his mother and father who both attended our college. He cares deeply about his home state of Mississippi, and has returned not only to raise his children here, but to be an extraordinary educational leader in Jackson, and to work to improve the quality of life for all those who live here. Jason is a true son of the South, one we can be proud to call our own,” Grisham said.

Walton and his wife, the former Laurie Bearden, an educator and Northwest alumna, are the parents of Caroline and John. They are active in First Baptist Church of Jackson. Walton is also a dedicated Rotarian.

Courtesy of Northwest Mississippi Community College