MADISON – Christy Aycock feels a sense of pride when she sees students sincerely trying to improve their behavior. Aycock is 2021 “Staff Member of the Year” at Horizon Elementary School.

What “makes me the most proud is that the students I have in ISS (In-School Suspension) try really hard not to come back to ISS,” Aycock, an instructional aide, said. “They catch me in the hallways and tell me how they handled the situation that previously brought them to ISS.”

“Whether it be a timeout, a few deep breaths, telling the teacher instead of taking things into their own hands, for example. I’m probably not really ISS teacher material — my own kids told me students shouldn’t want to hug the ISS teacher,” Aycock said.

Before working for Madison City Schools, Aycock was a dental assistant. She then married and started a family. Later, “I stayed home with my kids until they were in school. I started ‘subbing’ (substitute teaching) at their school and even got my CDL (commercial driver’s license) so I could drive on their field trips,” she said.

Six years ago, she started working for Horizon. “I was hired part time to work in the office and handle transportation … how kids get home each day,” Aycock said. “I was hired three years ago for ISS when the previous instructor retired.” Her time with MCS has been entirely at Horizon.

At Horizon, Aycock has a varying schedule and helps where needed. “I check in and out all textbooks, work in the office, cover classrooms when needed for meetings and make copies for teachers,” she said. “This year, I was in charge of transportation also. Due to COVID-19, I am the lunch runner most days.”

“I love my job’s flexibility but mostly love when I have students in ISS so we can come up with a plan to better handle the situations that put the student in ISS,” Aycock said.

Her husband works as an electrical engineer for PEO Missiles and Space on Redstone Arsenal. Their children, who all enrolled at Westminster Christian Academy, are Caleb, 25, a pharmacy major at Auburn University and married to Sarah, also a pharmacist; Olivia, 21, softball athlete majoring in biology and chemistry at Auburn Montgomery; and Abigail, 17, a Westminster senior.

A native of Panama City, Fla, Christy really doesn’t like the beach. “When we go as a family, I spend most of my time reading on the balcony. I rarely touch the sand anymore.”

In free time, Christy is with her family, especially at softball games or dance competitions. She enjoys ‘thrifting’ and antique shopping, a mother-daughter pastime that Christy now enjoys with her children.