[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 176 (Tuesday, November 15, 2022)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1146]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          HONORING JAMES LEWIS

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. BENNIE G. THOMPSON

                             of mississippi

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, November 15, 2022

  Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor a 
tenacious and self-motivated leader, Mr. James Lewis. Mr. Lewis has 
shown what can be done through hard work, dedication, and a desire to 
achieve success.
  In 2012, Mr. Lewis was a teacher's assistant at the Grove Street 
Alternative School, just getting his start as an educator and making 
$800 a month with no benefits. Thanks to a lot of hard work and a few 
well-timed breaks, he's now in one of the most prominent jobs in the 
Vicksburg Warren School District (VWSD).
  Lewis, a Vicksburg native, has been hired as the VWSD's next 
athletics director. The 36-year-old Lewis' career has been quite a 
rocket ride. After his humble beginnings at Grove Street, he joined 
Warren Central's boys' basketball coaching staff as a junior high 
assistant in 2013. He became the junior high head coach in 2014 and the 
ninth-grade head coach in 2015.
  He led Warren Central's ninth-grade team to a 42-8 record and three 
consecutive Little Six Conference championships, which opened the door 
for his first varsity head coaching job. He was hired at Jim Hill High 
School in Jackson in 2018 and was the MHSAA Region 2-5A Coach of the 
Year for the 2021-22 season. While at Jim Hill he won Coach of the Year 
and had a kid make the junior all-star game.
  The whole time Lewis was making a name for himself in the coaching 
world, he was working behind the scenes to eventually transition out of 
it.
  Lewis earned a masters degree in sports administration from 
Mississippi State before he started teaching. He said it focused mainly 
on running college, recreational and professional programs and not high 
school, however, so he went back to school. He earned a specialist 
degree in educational leadership and administration from Arkansas State 
University.
  Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing Mr. 
James Lewis for his passion and dedication to achieve new goals.

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