Victoria Wilson’s first day of school at Fleeta also was the first day the school held a Pre-K class, and she said it was a great day.

“We have 15 students this year,” Wilson, who is the lead Pre-K teacher, said. “We had so much fun. I have a co-teacher with me so she was in the classroom all day with me.”

This is Wilson’s second year in the classroom. She graduated from Samson High School in 2012, and then earned her bachelor’s degree in early childhood education from Jacksonville State University in 2017. She then worked her first year as a teacher at Samson Elementary School.

She credits her mother and her first grade teacher Mrs. Adams with her inspiration for teaching

“Growing up I always watched my mother,” Wilson said. “I knew that I wanted to have that special connection that she had with her students. I also had a first grade teacher, Mrs. Adams, who inspired me to teach. I always tell myself that I want to be someone’s Mrs. Adams.”

At first Wilson wanted to teach kindergarten, but after being hired in pre-k, she found her home.

“I did my internship at Munford Elementary School in a kindergarten classroom,” Wilson said. “But after being hired at Samson, I fell in love with it and I am so happy.”

This is Fleeta’s first year having a pre-k program.

“I want to get the program established and build it up,” Wilson said. “I want my students to have a positive learning experience.”

Wilson said that her biggest challenge this year will be getting acclimated to the new community.

“I am from Samson, so teaching there first was a breeze,” Wilson said. “But now that I live in Opp, it will be a new start.”

Despite this challenge, Wilson thinks that Jacksonville State prepared her the best that they could.

“The teaching program there was very hands-on,” Wilson said. “I think that they prepared me the best that they could.”

Wilson hopes to earn her master’s degree in October from the University of West Alabama.

Outside of the classroom, she loves to be outdoors, to hunt and fish and spend time with her husband, Hunter Wilson.