Kim Jones is proud to display a “Life is Better in North Webster” sign at her home. Photo by Nathan Pace.

By Nathan Pace
InkFreeNews

Just when you think Kim Jones has enough on her plate she finds a way to add to it. Jones is a teacher at Syracuse Elementary but also on the the board for the North Webster Community Center. The result has been a long career in the school district while also raising her kids in a town she is happy to call home.

“I loved raising my kids here. I am also the co-president of our teachers association,” Jones said. “I’m always very involved with what is going on at the school. I like being a problem solver. I am not afraid to roll up my sleeves and try and help and make things better.”

Jones began her teaching career in Warsaw teaching special education, but has now taught in Wawasee Community Schools for 25 years. She has worked at both the elementary schools in North Webster and Syracuse.

“I’ve never wanted to be anything else,” Jones said on teaching. “Even when I was younger this was the only thing I wanted to be.”

Jones taught fourth graders but after 22 years in the role she thought it was time to mix things up when there was an opening for a new physical education teacher.

“P.E. came up in our building. For some reason I thought, ‘I’d really like to do that.’ I think my principal was shocked, because I was going from a fourth grade teacher for over 20 years but I like seeing all the kids in the building. P.E. is a lot of classroom management and that is something I have always done really well at,” Jones said. “They gave me the opportunity and it has been an amazing experience. It kind of brought back my love for teaching in a different way and I appreciate that.”

In 2014, Kim was asked to be on the board for the community center. She had previously assisted in the annual auction that serves as the main fundraiser for the center.

“Dennis Wagoner came to me and asked me if I would be willing to be on this board. I respect him a lot and I didn’t really know if I wanted to commit at the time,” Jones said. “Now I’m very glad I did.”

At the community center, Jones has also helped with a program to give Christmas blankets to all the kindergartners in the three Wawasee elementary schools.

“The community is amazing. We ask for donations and we usually have all the money needed to buy the blankets in a short period of time,” Jones said.

The main event Jones spends the most time with at the community center is the Heart of the Community Auction and Dinner, coming up on Saturday, Oct. 5. The auction serves as the largest fundraiser for the community center as it does not receive tax revenue.

Jones is married to her husband Michael, and have two kids in Carter and Morgan. She credits her parents, Michael and Anne Babcock, for giving her a passion for the community. That passion can found outside her home in a sign.

“I have the sign in my yard that says ‘Life is better in North Webster.’ I really feel that way. I really don’t want to live anywhere else,” Jones said. “When you go to the city I don’t feel everyone knows their neighbors. We know all our neighbors. We have Christmas parties with or whole neighborhood. I don’t know if that happens anymore. I like that sense of the small town. Still knowing the people you live by.”