Burke takes being a Cobra seriously in regards to area students
By Sarah Grace Coleman
“Once a Cobra, always a Cobra” is the mantra of the Wesson Attendance Center and one that is dear to Taylor Burke. Burke has lived in Wesson ever since she was three years old. She has been married to her high school sweetheart, Konner Burke, for nine years and has three children— Emmerson,6; Anniston, 2; and Mallory, 3 months.
Growing up, her dream was to be a teacher. She also enjoyed dance and attended Nena Smith’s School of Dance from kindergarten until graduation. In high school, she was a member of the tennis team.
Like many Wesson residents, Burke got her associates’ degree from Copiah-Lincoln Community College before going to Ole Miss in Oxford, where she got her degree in education. After that, she began her teaching career at Brookhaven Academy in 2017, where she taught sixth grade for three years. In 2020, she moved to the Wesson Attendance Center, where she started as a third-grade teacher before moving to seventh grade and biology for three years before becoming a guidance counselor and tennis coach.
“I think that was God’s calling on my life was to be involved in education somehow. I think He put people and opportunities in my life that opened doors for me to become a counselor,” said Burke.
Wesson Schools has been a big part of her life.
“You really form relationships with your peers, the teachers, the staff, administrators, they get to watch you grow up and they cheer for you. My kindergarten teachers cheered for me all the way through graduation and college, and when I got married and had babies, they are still cheering for me,” said Burke.
“I recently got a letter from a previous student of mine that thanked me for believing in him when he didn’t believe in himself and pushing him to be better than he was at the time. I think, looking back, my proudest accomplishments, especially work-wise, are those students who have made it to graduation and have gone on to college or join the workforce, that maybe didn’t know that they would be able to accomplish that - that our teachers and staff and administration just rallied around and got them through to that.”
Burke also helps teach dancersize classes alongside Marsha Raiford and Jessica Breazeale at the Event Room on Tuesday nights. When she’s not working at the Attendance Center or dancing, she spends time with her family outdoors. This time of year, she and her kids can be found visiting Wesson’s park, enjoying snow cones from Park Place Ice Cream, and eating fried squash from her parent’s garden. Burke is also involved as a member of Topisaw Baptist Church in Bogue Chitto.
When asked to describe herself, Burke said, “Blessed. That's the only way to sum it up. In every aspect of the word.”
What are your hobbies?
I really don’t have much free time. I love spending time with my family. I enjoy playing tennis with my tennis team, but I don’t do it on my own anymore.
Are you a reader?
No, unfortunately not. I would love to have the time to, but I do not.
How about music?
I do; music is my love language. I am dying to see Ella Langley live right now, so that's on my bucket list at the moment. I love live music.
Do you go to the theater or movies?
Yes. I’ve been to New York a couple times, everything about Broadway shows just enthralls me, so I would love to be a fly on the wall backstage of the theater just to know how it operates. I love just how well they perform things. My favorite off-Broadway show I’ve ever been to was Kinky Boots.
If you won a lot of money in the lottery, how would you spend it?
The not-fun answer would be I would put it up for my three girls because, before I know it, I’ll be buying cars and wedding dresses and sending them to college and things like that. But my fun answer would be I would go see any live concert that I wanted to.
How would you change the world?
Being in education, a lot of times we tell kids, “You can do whatever you set your mind to. You can be whoever you want to be, but the reality in small-town Mississippi for some of our students is they don’t always have the resources available at their fingertips to make that happen. I think if I had the ability to, I would make that statement true for our kids here that they could do or be anything that they wanted to be without any obstacles in their way.
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