Tonya Kay Atkinson didn’t realize that school districts still give the Parent of the Year Award. So, imagine her surprise when she found out she was named the Lamar County School District’s Parent of the Year.
“I was honored, but I was shocked too,” she said. “I didn’t know that that was even a ‘thing’ anymore. I knew it was in the past, but I hadn’t really thought about it. It is such an important honor.”
Atkinson, who works as a certified occupational therapy assistant at Merit Health Wesley, is the president of the Oak Grove High School Parent-Teacher Organization. Principal Helen Price nominated Atkinson for the award.
“Tonya Kay is the type of parent every principal loves to see on their campus, and she can be seen regularly,” she said. “Currently, Tonya Kay is serving as our PTO president, which often has her carrying boxes of T-shirts, organizing our Teacher Appreciation week, selling reserved parking places for football games, taking applications for PTO teacher grants and recruiting parents at our open house. She’s truly like the Energizer Bunny and never slows down.”
Atkinson said she has been a member of all of the Oak Grove PTOs.
“From Longleaf on up – ever since I have been involved, the PTOs have given lots of money to the schools,” she said. “It also shows in the caliber of students that attend the Oak Grove schools.”
Atkinson's oldest child is 19-year-old Mississippi State University sophomore Chase, 19. Josie, 18, is an OGHS senior, while 16-year-old Briley is in the 10th grade.
“Since 2003, I have been somehow involved in PTOs, sometimes as fundraiser chairman, sometimes vice president and sometimes president in every school that my children attended,” Atkinson said. “We started out at the Primary School, and that was before the Upper and Lower elementary schools were even built. So, once they were built, we went to Primary, Lower, Upper, Middle and then High schools.”
Atkinson said she and her husband, Joe, wanted to keep up with their kids.
“In the beginning, it started out with me just wanting to be involved in what they were doing,” she said. “Once you start volunteering at school and then you start volunteering with the PTO, it kind of opens up a whole new world of things that you never knew existed.”
Atkinson said her husband was excited to hear that his wife had won the award.
“He’s always been very, very supportive of anything I have done or the kids have done,” she said, adding that they hope to inspire their children. “My husband and I want them to give back wherever they are. It doesn’t matter whether they’re at Mississippi State, USM, wherever they are going be in life; we just want them to give back because we have been given so much.”
The Atkinson children – and, therefore, parents – have been involved in several in-school and community activities.
“Baseball, tennis, Beta Club, First Priority, Civitan – I guess it’s called The Tribe now – drama, Diamond Girls,” Atkinson listed. “Just anything they can get involved in, not just in school, but in the community.
Price said in her nomination letter that Anderson has instilled the Oak Grove spirit in her children.
“Nominating Tonya Kay is especially exciting because not only is she an outstanding parent volunteer, but Tonya Kay is an OGHS alum, allowing her Oak Grove and Lamar County roots to run deep,” she said. “She has now passed that love on to her three children who have either graduated or currently attend her alma mater. Tonya Kay not only leads and organizes our PTO and various other activities, but she has a great desire to encourage and inspire our students.
“She’s an active member in her church’s youth activities, which involves a large number of our students. She also has been involved in Junior Auxiliary organizing events that help children who have physical and financial needs. When OGHS students have had a financial need, we have called on Tonya Kay and the PTO to help meet those needs. Her heart’s desire is to make sure students have every opportunity to succeed."
