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By JOYANNA LOVE/ Managing Editor

Students can often recall the names of teachers years after leaving their classrooms.

Some find ways to reconnect with them later in life.

For Alexis Powell of Jemison, a recent Christmas project to give back to the community reconnected her to the Jemison Head Start that she had attended as a child.

The current Jemison Head Start teacher is the same person that taught Powell when she attended.

“Not only was I able to give back to the kids, but, in a way, I was able to give back to her as well,” Powell, who is now a freshman at Alabama A&M University, said.

Powell made 19 Christmas gift bags, including fun items like coloring books and necessities like lotion, for students in the program. Powell said her mother and aunt assisted her with the project.

“I really just wanted to give back to my community, and I thought this was just the perfect way to,” she said.

With the COVID-19 pandemic, Powell wanted to include essential items that families might need, in addition to fun items.

She said she tried to think like a parent and include things “that could really benefit them.”

Powell visited the Head Start program to deliver the gifts. She said delivering the gifts “made the experience 10x better.”

“They were excited,” Powell said. “I didn’t expect them to be as excited as they were.”

Since programing has been online because of the pandemic, meeting to receive the gifts was the first time some of the students had seen each other in a while.

“I got a lot of hugs and a lot of smiles, so my day was definitely made,” Powell said.

Powell is a pre-med major at Alabama A&M, and she wants to become a pediatrician.