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Brandon Methodist Kindergarten Team
Julie Parker
Director
Mrs. Julie Parker and her husband, Donny, moved to Brandon 19 years ago and enjoy life with their three children, Benton, Anna-Scott, and Lila. Before Mrs. Julie started teaching at BMK in 2008, she was a proud BMK parent. At BMK, she has taught 3 year old preschool and served as assistant director before being named director in 2020. She holds a bachelor’s degree in marketing education and a master’s degree in instructional technology from Mississippi State University. Mrs. Julie finds joy in watching children have fun while they learn. Her favorite part of the BMK day is the carpool chats she has with students.
Leigh Sharp
Assistant Director
Mrs. Leigh is a long-time resident of Brandon. She has been married to Noel Sharp for 19 years and they have two children- Sophie and Brady, who both attended preschool and kindergarten at BMK and now attend Brandon Schools. Mrs. Leigh holds a dual degree in Early Childhood Education and Elementary Education from the University of West Alabama. She is a former Rankin County School district elementary school teacher, and this is her 7th year at BMK. She moved into the Assistant Director position in 2020 after teaching PreK-3 and PreK-4. BMK holds a special place in Mrs. Leigh’s heart and she is blessed to be a part of the best preschool around!
Kindergarten Teacher
Ellie Halverson
K-4 Teacher
Dee Dee Stowers
Mrs. Ellie started teaching kindergarten at BMK in 2008. She was born and raised in Minnesota. She moved to Brandon in 1991. Ellie loves living in the south with her husband, John. They have three daughters: Jennifer, Angela, and Olivia. Ellie earned her Bachelor of Science in Education from Winona State University. She taught at Brandon Elementary School before joining the staff at BMK. Ellie teaches the 5 year old kindergarten class where exciting things are always happening. She believes nothing is more rewarding than when a child reads for the first time! In her spare time, Ellie burns up the roads between Brandon, Birmingham and Nashville to visit her precious grandsons, Owen and Liam. The Lord has blessed her with a wonderful life!
Mrs. Dee Dee has lived in Rankin County almost all of her life. She and her husband have three boys, Josh, John and Matt. Dee Dee and her family are members of Brandon Presbyterian Church. The Stowers have been blessed to have BMK as a very special part of their family since 1999. She enjoys watching children as they grow academically and spiritually. She feels there is nothing more special than seeing a child's eyes twinkle with delight as they hear about God's love for them.
Kelly Conn
K4 Teacher
Mrs. Kelly has been a Brandon native for most of her life. She is married to Jason Conn. Between them they have 4 boys, Dylan, Hunter, Jacob, and Lawson. She graduated with her degree in elementary education in 2013 and with her masters degree in elementary education in 2015 from Delta State University. She has taught at StoneBridge elementary for the past nine years. Mrs. Kelly is very excited to transition to BMK where she hopes to instill a love for learning and teaching children about God’s love for them.
Jennifer Altman
K4 Teacher
Mrs. Jennifer and her husband, Jeff, have lived in Brandon for 25 years with their three children, Connor, John Clarke, and Caroline. While they are originally from south Mississippi, Brandon is now their forever home. All three of their children are BMK alumni and they are so proud of the amazing foundation they received during their time there. She was so impressed with their success at BMK, that she chose to be a part of this wonderful team as a teacher. This is her 15th year as a 4 year old teacher and she absolutely loves the laughter, stories, hugs, and most of all, the light bulb moments from teaching such amazing students!!
Sherry Sanderson
K4 Teacher
Mrs. Sherry is married to Ted and they have two amazing children, Mary Elizabeth and Michael. Mrs. Sherry received her Bachelor of Science in Education from Belhaven University and has been teaching four year old pre-k at BMK since 2014. She loves to hear the laughter of all the children and the stories they love to tell. When Mrs. Sherry isn’t at school, you can usually find her at her farm taking care of her horses, cows, donkeys, cats, chickens and peacocks. She loves animals as much as she loves teaching children.
Penny Watson
K3 Teacher
Mrs. Penny was born and raised in Brookhaven, MS. She moved to Brandon in 1996 and married Joe Watson. They have one son, Reeve, who attends Mississippi State University. She has been loving on three year old preschoolers at BMK since 2005. Her favorite thing about teaching is the big hug she gets from each student every morning.
Cecile Whitten
K3 Teacher
Mrs. Cecile has lived in Brandon since 1996. She has been married for 31 years. Her son, Wilson and his wife Laura, live in California and they have one son named Murry. Her son, David, lives and works in Brandon. Her daughter, Eli, is studying Elementary Education at MSU.
Mrs. Cecile graduated from Winthrop College in Rock Hill, SC with a BS in Elementary Education. Cecile has been teaching at BMK for 18 years. She and her husband, Nat, are members at Brandon First Presbyterian Church and enjoys being very active there.
Erin Purvis
K3 Teacher
Mrs. Erin has lived in Brandon all of her life. She and her husband, Ramsey, have three boys- Gareth, Emmitt and Elliott- all of which have attended BMK. She received her bachelor's degree from the University of Mississippi and has worked in the medical field the past 12 years. She and her family are members of Crossgates Baptist Church. BMK holds a very special place in her heart. Her boys absolutely love it there! Mrs. Erin is so excited to be a part of BMK and she can't wait to teach the love of Jesus!
Dr. Angele Johnson
Music Teacher
"Dr. J" (as the kids call her) started teaching music at BMK in 2022. She was born in Louisiana. She has lived in Mississippi, North Carolina and California. She has called Brandon home since 2021. She and her husband Jim have a son, Luke who is in the Navy. They also have a daughter, Julia, who is studying computer science at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.
She earned her Doctorate of Philosophy in Educational Leadership from USM. She earned a masters degree in Counseling from South Eastern Louisiana University. She earned her Bachelors degree in Elementary Education from the University of New Orleans. She retired from Louisiana after 33 years of teaching, counseling and serving as an administrator. She and her family attend Brandon United Methodist Church where she learned about BMK. She looks forward to coming to work every Tuesday and Thursday, singing with the children and worshipping the Lord.