Jackson retires after 42 years in education
As he prepares to retire, Bobby Jackson can remember many years that he coached, along with his current position as Transportation Specialist for Madison City Schools. RECORD PHOTOS/GREGG L. PARKER
MADISON – After 42 years in the field of education, Bobby Jackson will retire on June 30.
As Transportation Specialist for Madison City Schools, Jackson takes pride in “making the department more efficient and saving money for the system.” He found “innovative ideas to streamline the department to be more effective and make sure students were safe and comfortable on their ride to/from school.”
“Over the past five years, we’ve returned over $1 million dollars to the General Fund” for MCS, Jackson said. His office was at the bus center on Westchester Road in Madison.
“I thoroughly enjoyed my years of coaching. I look back and some athletes I had years ago and see how successful they are now. I hope I had some part in guiding and encouraging them to succeed,” Jackson said. Seeing students received scholarships was rewarding, too.
During his career, Jackson first taught in 1974 at Claysville Middle School and then at Paint Rock Valley High School in Jackson County. He moved to Buckhorn High School for six years. With MCS, he worked at Bob Jones High School for 19 years and with the Central Office for 14 years.
For his successor, Jackson advises “just be yourself. Do what is right and treat everyone with respect.”
He earned a bachelor’s degree at St. Bernard College in Cullman. At the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Jackson earned master’s degrees in physical education and also school administration.
Leaving MCS, he will miss “the fellowship of other employees … from Dr. Fowler to administrators at the central office, to principals, teachers and all support employees I deal with most,” Jackson said. “It will be a change not to see them every day.”
“When I walk away from here, I’m not interested in working anymore. I plan on playing lots of golf,” Jackson said. He and wife Gayle live in Athens on Southern Gayle’s Golf Course with their Yorkie named Maggie.
Bobby and Gayle Jackson will travel to places they’ve always wanted to visit. “I just want to enjoy life without having to punch a clock anymore … did that for over 50 years,” he said.
