Jessica Pardue grew up in Dawson County, attending Black’s Mill Elementary School the first year it opened when she was in fifth grade. She worked the after school program at Black’s Mill throughout her high school years, graduated from Dawson County High School and continued volunteering at the elementary school while she was in college. Now, Pardue is in her ninth year of teaching at the same elementary school she attended back in fifth grade, and the second grade teacher has been named as the 2022-23 Teacher of the Year for Black’s Mill.