By CAROLINE CARMICHAEL / Staff Writer

Jemison Intermediate School teacher Rachel Mims is JIS “superstar” of the week after receiving a surprise $1,000 grant from CBS 42 on March 6.

The grant is part the news network’s One Class at a Time grant program, sponsored by Pepsi and Little Caesars Pizza, and will fund a portion of Mims’ future outdoor classroom.

Mims teaches 63 gifted education students, who have been treating Mims like royalty after her surprise award and TV interview with the news network.

“Ms. Mims is like a superstar around here,” Principal D.J. Nix said, adding that throughout his administrative years, he had rarely encountered teachers like Mims, who “pushes him to the limits.”

“She’s always thinking outside the box, and she’s always looking at the big picture,” he said.

Nix said he was informed on Feb. 26 that Mims had won the grant — and he made it a well-kept secret among faculty until the network’s presentation at the school.

“I knew she was passionate about her outdoor classroom we’ve been working on for two years,” Nix said. “I was trying to figure out a way to keep [the grant news] from her, so what I told her is, ‘I have a group coming — they want to meet with the kids.’”

It worked.

Superintendent Tommy Glasscock introduced “our special visitors,” and when the news crew filed into the lunchroom with big smiles and an even bigger check, a waving Little Caesars Pizza mascot in tow, children gawked and Mims peered skeptically at the scene.

“It was shocking,” Mims recalled. “I was really trying to figure out what was going on — I was starting to think, ‘Something is not right, something is going on.’”

Then Glasscock announced the money was for the outdoor classroom.

“[I am] just very thankful, really, and surprised,” Mims said.

Mims said she had applied for the grant on a whim some time after Christmas.

“I really didn’t think anything else about it,” she said.

Because of the grant, dreams for her outdoor classroom have taken their first step into reality.

“I’m just glad to see, now that we’ve got a chunk of money, that we can actually see something happening with [our] outdoor classroom,” Mims said.

Mims said she has been outlining a plan for the classroom with the help of the Alabama Wildlife Federation (AWF), which certifies outdoor classrooms.

Plans for the outdoor classroom include a pavilion, which is the greatest challenge, and smaller stations, such as a weather station and a sensory station.

In the meantime, JIS welcomes any further donations or sponsorships for the classroom.

Interested individuals can make a donation or learn more about the outdoor classroom by contacting Principal D.J. Nix at (205) 280-4840.

JIS thanks Mims and the Enrichment Program, Glasscock and local businesses for their support with the outdoor classroom.