MADISON -The “Staff Member of the Year” at Madison Elementary School is Phillis Gaines.

Gaines recently completed her second year as secretary and bookkeeper at Madison elementary. Previously, she worked for eight years as bookkeeper at Bob Jones High School.

“I am very thankful and honored to have been given the opportunity to work for the school system,” Gaines said. “I am able to witness, from an inside perspective, the impact teachers have on our young people. Not only do I work with educators daily, I have a family full of them.”

Her husband Robin Gaines retired as a coach from Bob Jones but continues to teach science there. Their daughter, Courtney Gaines Sutton, graduated from Bob Jones in 2003. At Auburn University, she earned a bachelor’s degree in rehabilitation services in 2007 and a bachelor’s degree in nursing in 2010.

Courtney and husband Justin Sutton have two sons and live in Auburn. She works as a critical care nurse East Alabama Medical Center.

Phillis and Robin’s son, Luke Gaines, graduated from Bob Jones in 2006 and AU in 2010 with a bachelor’s degree in industrial design. Luke and wife Jessye Gessner Gaines of Madison have two daughters. Luke works as a metrology engineer for Shape Fidelity.

Phillis and Robin’s daughter Casey Gaines graduated in Bob Jones’ Class of 2010 and from AU with a bachelor’s degree in elementary education in 2014. Currently, Casey is pursuing a master’s degree in educational counseling from the University of West Alabama. Casey teaches kindergartners at Columbia Elementary School.

After high school in Bryan, Texas, Phillis attended Southwest Texas State University and Texas A&M University before marrying and moving to Montgomery. “We moved to Madison for the 2002-2003 school year when my husband was hired to teach and coach track and cross country at Bob Jones,” Phillis said.

Phillis is an active member of First Baptist Church of Madison.

Her hobbies include embroidery, applique and “spoiling my grandchildren.”