Meet the Atlanta Families’ Awards winners: Rendell Jackson

We continue our Atlanta Families’ Awards for Excellence in Education winners with a look at Rendell Jackson, a physical-education teacher at King Middle School. Jackson is in his third year at King, after teaching in the Douglas and Fulton county school systems. A former pro football player in the Arena and Canadian football leagues, Jackson is also a published poet! He also earned an ING Run For Something Better Teacher Coordinator Award of Excellence.

For his Atlanta Families’ Awards project, Jackson plans to implement an aquatics program at King. His project aims to provide exposure to the benefits of swimming beyond recreation and plans work collaboratively with local high schools and the YMCA. The program will be based on the GuardStart: Lifeguarding Tomorrow guidelines, designed to prepare 11-to-14-year-olds to take Red Cross lifeguarding certification.

“There are a great deal of accidental drownings among children over the summer months, and two-thirds of them have been African Americans,” Jackson pointed out. “How crazy is that? I realized I had the tools at my disposal to save lives.” That includes a pool on the King campus.