This week’s spotlight features Jill Burttram.
Mrs. Burttram was born and raised in Walterboro. She attended John C. Calhoun Academy (k/n/a Colleton Preparatory Academy) from Kindergarten through her senior year of high school. Her sport of choice was cheerleading, but that wasn’t the only activity she participated in. During junior high she played in the band (alongside our Press & Standard colleague Mr. Scott Grooms). She also sang in the chorus as a soprano. During school, her favorite subject was English. Mrs. Jill credits her teachers Janice Blocker and Betty Linder for helping her cultivate her love for the subject and a love for reading.
Mrs. Burttram knew what she wanted to be when she grew up very early in life. She wanted to teach; to go into education. Jill reminisces that when she little she had a little chalkboard and would play school. She would hold class with her dolls, smaller neighborhood kids, and anyone that would listen to her lessons and do the worksheets she created. Her mother and grandmother were also teachers in Colleton County and would bring their gradebooks home and she would play school with those also. After she graduated from high school Mrs. Burttram attended the College of Charleston where she earned her Bachelor Degree in Elementary Education. A few years later and after her third child was born Jill went back to school and got her Master Degree in Literacy and Reading. Her teaching career started at Bells Elementary and then moved to Northside Elementary. Then she moved onto teaching SPICE (gifted and talented). The next step in her career was at USC Salkehatchie where she taught education classes there as an adjunct professor for five years and then also supervised student teacher all around the county and some surrounding counties. The progression to Colleton Prep was equal parts need and convenience. CPA very much needed a second grade teacher. All three of her kids were at CPA and she comments, “It just made sense for me to be here where they were. I wanted to be involved before they graduated, and so I took a big jump and came and taught second grade at CPA.” She remembers that in smaller schools like CPA everyone wears many different hats and jumps in to help wherever they are needed. After some years passed, the Head of School at the time left. Due to her all her participation in various activities and programs at CPA and also her experience supervising student teachers, Mrs. Burttram was offered the position as Interim Head of School while they looked for someone to fill the position. However, CPA had already found their new Head of School in Jill Burttram and she was officially offered the position. This will be her 10th year as Colleton Preparatory Academy Head of School and her 16th year total at the school.
I asked Mrs. Burttram if she had a passion for what she does. She brightened and immediately answered, “I do. I absolutely do.” We joked that people do not get into education for the money, so that satisfaction and love for the job is what keeps people in the field. Jill feels blessed to be in the position that she is in because in the CPA setting there are so many options of being able to meet the students where they need to be met. She tries to think of what kinds of experiences she would like her children to have if they were still at school, and with the support of the CPA staff they try to bring those experiences to the students. She loves the feeling of community that permeates the school and extends not only to the students and teachers in the building, but to the families of the same students and teachers too. Someone or the entire school is always willing to help someone who may need it. Mrs. Burttram reflects, “Everyday my prayer is, let me be an instrument. How can I help? Who can I support? I just hope that it’s a good experience (at CPA) for all these kids, and what can I do to make it better for them?”
Obviously, teacher and Head of School are two completely different things. I asked Mrs. Jill what was her favorite part of teaching. Again, she brightened and said, “just watching those light bulbs turn on and knowing they had that ‘aha’ moment where they got it and they were proud of themselves and felt success. Those are big moments.” As the Head of School her favorite moments are watching children who come up through the preschool program at CPA losing their first teeth, maybe even taking their first steps, and then watching them asking a fellow student to prom, get accepted to college, or get a new job. Sometimes a former student will come back to a football game and tell Mrs. Jill how they are doing now and what is going on in their life. “It’s very rewarding to know we helped shape their little world, we kept them safe, we kept them motivated and on track, and they are doing so well.” Jill is also at a point in her career where she is starting to see some of her former students enroll their children at CPA and now she has another little generation to guide through the school.
Personally, Jill Burttram confesses that she is a woman of simple pleasures. When she is not being the Head of School at Colleton Preparatory Academy, she loves to read. Her favorite genre is rom-com stories, but she reads a bit of everything. She does read some of the more serious “heavier” books, but the rom-coms provide the mental break she sometimes needs. She loves to go to the beach with Edisto Island being one of her favorites. Jill recently discovered Fripp Island visiting family in Beaufort and enjoys it a great deal. Burttram also loves walking and spending time with her dog. Truvy the Cavalier King Charles is the four legged member of the very dog friendly Burttram family. Jill is married to Tracy Burttram and they have 3 children (2 daughters and 1 son). Very recently Mrs. Jill achieved another title to her list of credentials. Fourteen months ago Jill became a grandmother to a beautiful little girl Eleanor Katherine, fondly called Kit. Miss Kit lives about an hour away, but Jill visits as often as she can. This weekend Mrs. Burttram is making the trip to babysit so Kit’s mom can put the Christmas tree and other decorations up without inquiring little hands trying to undo what will be done. I’m going to go out on a limb and say at this point Grandmother might be Jill’s favorite title. Spending time with her family is very important to Mrs. Burttram. They are the most important people in her life and she loves being with them.
There are people in communities who are simply “good people”. Jill Burttram is one of those people. She serves her community through her work as an educator wishing only the best for her students, staff, and their families. She genuinely cares and wishes the best of everything for her family and in her personal relationships. Colleton County is fortunate to have someone of such character to help shape the future of the community. Thank you Jill Burttram for all that you do.
