Mayor Tony Yarber speaks to fifth grade students at Casey Elementary during Career Day.

Mayor Tony Yarber spent the afternoon with fifth grade students at Casey Elementary for Career Day on November 10, 2014. The mayor ate lunch with the students and later talked to them about choosing a career path, sharing how his own path led him into politics.

Ironically, Mayor Yarber began his career in education as a student teacher at Casey, and two of his colleagues from that time are still teaching at the school. After teaching in several JPS elementary and middle schools, the mayor eventually rose to building administrator and served as principal of Marshall Elementary before entering the world of city government in 2009 when he was elected city council member representing Jackson’s Ward 6. He became mayor in 2014, after running in  a special election to replace Mayor Chokwe Lumumba following his death while in office.

Yarber ended by explaining to the students that whatever career they decided to go into, it had to be one that they loved. Mayor Yarber told the students he goes to bed and wakes up thinking about how he can make his city better. 

“I ran for mayor not because I wanted to be mayor, but because I’m passionate about my city. I love Jackson,” said Mayor Yarber. “Everybody wants to go to Atlanta, but I want to make Jackson better than Atlanta. I think we have the opportunity to do it because we have amazing fifth graders like you guys here at Casey.”

In addition to the mayor’s visit, the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) from Lanier High School was a part of the Career Day activities at Casey. Colonel (Ret.) Paul Willis, Director of JPS JROTC programs and Lieutenant/Colonel (Ret.) Jennifer Expose-Francisco, senior instructor, and several cadets from the Lanier JROTC unit spoke to students in second through fifth grades about careers in the military.

Casey Principal Leslie Coleman was proud of the Career Day program offerings provided to Casey students.

"Our counselor, Mrs. Christian, coordinated numerous opportunities for our students to be exposed to careers they didn't even know existed, said Casey Principal Leslie Coleman. We want our students to be aware of their options and help them set goals to aspire to."