By SANDRA THAMES / Community Columnist

“At the age of 5, I understood that Jesus needed to be a big part of my life and I totally surrendered to God’s will at the age of 18. Now I hold him close and couldn’t make it without his daily love and presence” said Thompson Intermediate School teacher Ann Jay Harrison.

A “little town” girl from Aliceville, Harrison graduated from Samford University in 1991. She later returned (after kids) to get her masters from the University of Montevallo in 2004.

With husband Mike coaching football (Shelby County High School), a son Michael, age 15 and another son, Lloyd, age 10, Harrison has her hands full with teaching, an absentee dad this time of year and church.

Now, with the economy upside down, she decided this summer to jump into something she was really interested in: Mary Kay Cosmetics. Harrison has personally seen the make-up cleansing system work on her own face. With her own personal experiences and bubbly attitude, she loves her new found job.

This past spring, a Mary Kay senior sales director came to TIS to do “pampering sessions” during teacher appreciation week. Harrison was hooked, but admits it takes effort to squeeze in time to do the bookwork and ordering required in addition to the demands of family and church.

A member of Community Baptist in Maylene, where she teaches the high school girls Sunday school class, directs the youth choir and co-teaches a Bible-based weight loss health plan, Harrison is very involved in church activities.

A trip with her family to Hawaii is her “someday” dream. Her everyday highs are seeing a child’s “light bulb moment” after having struggled with a math problem and to see a child leave her class at the end of the year believing they have been taught well and loved well.

“Learning is fun and we need to make it that way for our students,” she said.

Harrison believes childhood is a perfect place to be, and is glad to have 22 years invested in teaching our youngsters.