Jones steps up from sub to full-time teacher/coach

Errol “E.J.” Jones Errol "E.J." Jones is not exactly new to BISD. After moving his family here two years ago, he has done some substitute teaching at all campuses. He often drew the assignment of filling in for the ISS (In School Suspension) teacher last year and and beginning this fall Jones comes on board full time as the ISS teacher and a coach in the boys program.

Jones grew up in Lake Charles, Louisiana, but his father was from this area and two years ago E.J. and his wife Helen relocated to family property in Plum Creek, in Freestone County. Their son Micah graduated from BHS last year and they also have a daughter Evan who is a freshman and twin sons Jaxon and Jaylen who will be first graders this year. Helen, too, is a familiar face at BISD as a frequent substitute teacher.

As a youngster E.J. played football, basketball and track, and in '92 he was nominated to the McDonald's All-American High School Basketball Team. An athletic scholarship took him to UT Pan Am in Edinburgh, Texas and he completed his education at Day Spring Center for Counselling, certified as a pastoral counsellor and Life Coach.

Jones' training makes him especially qualified to work with the at-risk students who will be in his ISS classes. "I look for what's positive about a kid -- what we can motivate them to do. Even if they're not the greatest athlete, there's something they can hang their hat on and say, 'I was good at THIS," Jones explains. He considers himself an interventionist working to head kids off from destructive paths. He also hopes to be a parent/teacher liaison, insisting, "If you have a kid who has failed a couple of drug tests, a kid who is having trouble adhering to school policy -- the parents need to be involved."

Those same motivational skills serve Jones well when coaching athletes. "I know about winning. I'll accept a game that we're defeated, by rarely will I accept a game we LOST. If we give it to them, I'm not the Happiest Person in the World!" Jones has coached an AAU basketball team, and coached at Everman ISD, near Fort Worth. At BISD he will be the head coach of the junior high football team and a varsity assistant coach working with the running backs. He will also be a varsity assistant in basketball and will coach the throwers and hurdles in track. Back in Lake Charles he held shot put records in middle school (42' 8") and high school district and regional records (53'11").

Jones is excited to be joining the team here at BISD and is here for the long haul, claiming, "I'm looking forward to retiring here."