Veterans Memorial Middle School

Veterans Memorial is excited to announce that Alexandria Ard is returning to VMMS! Mrs. Ard will be entering her 5th year at Veterans. She is currently completing her master’s degree in middle grades education. Mrs. Ard is passionate about helping students grow as readers, writers, and thinkers while ensuring that her classroom is a safe space for students where they feel valued, supported, and appreciated. Many former students list Mrs. Ard as one of their favorite teachers at Veterans. Mrs. Ard’s said her favorite thing about Veterans is, “The sense of community and relationships built between students, families, and staff.” Veterans Memorial is the school it is today because of Mrs. Ard. We are excited to have Mrs. Ard returning to The Valley!

Veterans Memorial is excited to announce that Alicia Hunt is returning to VMMS! Mrs. Hunt will be entering her 4th year at Veterans. She leads our BETA Club and has done a tremendous job. Alongside of Dr. McCann, Mrs. Hunt sponsors and leads our Go 2 Teach Club. Go 2 Teach is for students who have an interest in teaching as a career. During her first year of leading Go 2 Teach, the VMMS team finished as the runner up for the competition sponsored by CSU. Mrs. Hunt completed her gifted endorsement this year which allows her to better serve our gifted population. Mrs. Hunt stated that her favorite thing about Veterans is “The community. The coworkers and admin have been a great support in growing my skills as an educator. I would not be the educator I am without the foundational support and growth of those supporting me my first two years.” Veterans Memorial is the school it is today because of Mrs. Hunt. We are excited to have Mrs. Hunt returning to The Valley!

Veterans Memorial is excited to announce that Rebecca Woods is returning to VMMS! Ms. Woods will be entering her 5th year at Veterans. She is a proud graduate of Mississippi State University and still loves cheering on MSU. She has a bachelor’s degree in English and a minor in psychology. Ms. Woods serves as our head coach for competitive and sideline cheerleading. Ms. Woods favorite thing about VMMS is “It’s a teamwork atmosphere and everyone works together.” Veterans Memorial is the school it is today because of Ms. Woods. We are excited to have Ms. Woods returning to The Valley!

Veterans Memorial is excited to announce that Meghan Smith is returning to VMMS! Mrs. Smith provides a calm and veteran experience to our school with 12 years of experience in education. She serves as our language arts department chair and is the team leader for Team 8-1. Mrs. Smith also leads our National Junior Honor Society and BETA Club. Mrs. Smith’s favorite thing about Veterans Memorial is “How supportive everyone is of one another.” Veterans Memorial is the school it is today because of Mrs. Smith. We are excited to have Mrs. Smith returning to The Valley!

Summer school starts on Tuesday, June 2nd for students required to attend. Chromebooks will continue to be available to be checked out on Monday, June 1st from 7:30 am - 12:30 pm. Families of students attending summer school who were not able to attend the Zoom meeting last week please contact Mr. Ogburn at [email protected] with any questions.

Veterans Memorial is excited to welcome Mark Sanders to VMMS! Mr. Sanders brings 23 years of experience in education to VMMS. He has taught language arts, science, and social studies throughout his career. Mr. Sanders was the Teacher of the Year in 2015 at Georgetown Elementary School. In 2024, Mr. Sanders was the Kinetic Golden Apple Award recipient while teaching in Talbot County. Mr. Sanders has a reputation of developing meaningful relationships with students while having impressive standardized test results. We are beyond excited to have Mr. Sanders joining Veterans Memorial! RLTW

Veterans Memorial is excited to welcome Kelly Fields to VMMS! Mrs. Fields has 19 years of experience in education. She has experience teaching language arts, math, science, social studies, and ESOL. She is making the move to middle school after nearly two decades in the elementary setting. Mrs. Fields has experience leading science olympics and reading bowl. During her time at Dimon Magnet Academy she helped Dimon become STEAM certified. She has served on school based leadership teams during her career. In addition to her vast experience with academics, Mrs. Fields has a passion for competitive cheerleading and works with GHSA for competitive cheer. We are beyond excited to have Mrs. Fields joining Veterans Memorial! RLTW

Veterans Memorial is excited to welcome Thomas Nguyen to VMMS! Mr. Nguyen graduated in 2022 from Columbus State University with a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology. He secured his master’s degree in exercise science from CSU in 2026. In addition to his degrees, Mr. Nguyen is a certified Exercised Physiologist through ACSM. Mr. Nguyen served as a graduate assistant in Campus Recreation at CSU working with club and intramural sports. Mr. Nguyen has experience as an admissions counselor at CSU. He also has experience coaching football at CSU as an offensive line coach and offensive coordinator. His experiences in coaching, mentoring, and working with students contributed to Mr. Nguyen realizing that teaching is his passion. Mr. Nguyen stated, “I am passionate about building relationships with students and helping them grow. Seeing students develop has been one of the most rewarding parts of my journey thus far.” We are beyond excited to have Mr. Nguyen joining Veterans Memorial! RLTW

Veterans Memorial is excited to welcome Anna LaBarbera to VMMS! Ms. LaBarbera is originally from Demorest, GA before moving to Columbus to play soccer for Columbus State University. She has her bachelors in history secondary education and will finish her masters in secondary education this summer. Ms. LaBarbera has experience coaching soccer with the TOTs Program, a U8 team, the Calvary Boys’ Soccer Team, and a CSU Student Assistant Coach during the Spring of 2026. While at CSU, Ms. LaBarbera completed an internship at the National Infantry Museum where she developed lesson plans for teachers to use while on field trips to keep students engaged. She also has developed lesson plans for the National Civil War Naval Museum. While on the CSU soccer team Ms. LaBarbera was a member of the 2022 PBC Regular Season Champions, 2022 NCAA Final Four Team, 2023 PBC Tournament Champions, 2023 NCAA Sweet Sixteen Team, 2024 PBC Regular Season Champions, 2024 PBC Tournament Champions, 2024 NCAA Final Four Team, and the 2025 PBC Tournament Champions. Individually Ms. LaBarbera was the 2024 PBC All Tournament Player, PBC Defender of the Week in 2024, and the Girls in the Game Silver Scholarship Winner for 2025-2026. She decided to pursue a career in education as she was inspired by her parents who are both educators and the difference they have made in students’ lives. We are beyond excited to have Ms. LaBarbera joining Veterans Memorial! RLTW