For most 8-year-old boys, the necktie resembles a medieval torture device.
For students of Jim Triplett at Gateway Elementary School, the necktie is a symbol of perseverance and achievement.
Triplett, 36, began the practice in 2012-13, when his current students were in the third grade.
“I couldn’t let this experience of having an all-male classroom pass by without making a larger impact on their lives, other than teaching them the academic content,” Triplett said.
“I knew that learning how to tie a necktie was a life skill, among other skills, that all young men would need to use for the rest of their lives, no matter where they ended up.”
Every Friday, Triplett tests his students on math and reading. Those who scored 80 percent or above got to select a tie that had been donated by some college fraternity brothers, friends, teachers and colleagues in St. Louis Public Schools.
As the practice continued – into fourth grade last year – students were able to keep their ties or select new ones. At the end of the school year, they were allowed to take their neckties home, as a gift for working hard all year long to be a scholar, leader and gentleman.
“We also talked about the type of gentleman who they typically see wearing neckties, how they dressed, carried themselves, etc.,” Triplett said.
“They were all receptive to learning because wearing a necktie was something that their dad, grandfather, older brothers and older cousins did. So this was a big deal to them. Some of them learned quicker than others. But then as a team, I decided to allow the other students who ‘got it’ to help their classmates. Every now and then I would step in to help, but not often.”
Triplett attended Clark Elementary School, and then Brittany Woods Middle School and University City High School, graduating in 1996. He briefly attended the University of Missouri-Columbia on an academic scholarship, but decided to leave school to go into retail management. He worked in the retail industry for 16 years, and then briefly worked in the information technology department at Logan College of Chiropractic.
But something was missing from his life. After his mother passed away in 2004, Triplett sought answers.
“My mother worked hard to ensure she could afford to send me to college and get an education without taking out any loans,” Triplett said.
“I prayed on it, and the answers I got led me in the direction of education. I have found my passion and I’ve never looked back. I’m doing what God put me on this Earth to do, which is to change lives through education – as a teacher.”
Triplett earned an associate degree in teaching from St. Louis Community College, and then transferred to Kennesaw (Ga.) State University. He graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in early childhood education and was the first African-American male to graduate from the school’s Urban Education program. He currently is pursuing a master’s degree in educational technology at Lindenwood University.
While living in Georgia, Triplett was hired by Teach For America to return to St. Louis and teach in the SLPS.
“I attended elementary school in SLPS, so it feels like a full-circle opportunity to be able to provide my students with the same great education I feel I received in SLPS,” Triplett said.
Triplett has looped the ranks with his third graders through fourth grade, and will be teaching them again as fifth graders. A male fourth grade teacher at Clark Elementary has served as an inspiration for Triplett in his professional career.
“I recalled and modeled how I taught my class, managed my class, and my daily teacher attire with what I remembered from him,” Triplett said. “I knew that becoming a male teacher, I would definitely serve as a role model to my students, and didn’t mind that task at all.”
His principal, Rose Howard, saw the same qualities in Triplett when she first interviewed him three years ago.
“I knew he would do something great with students,” Howard said. “He is the ultimate professional, instilling and infusing the love for learning in his students. He is energetic, intelligent, and an excellent role model for male students at Gateway Elementary. His students have made great strides academically, and they are responsible and respectful individuals.”
Triplett, who is single, said he feels as if he has 25 10-year-old sons.
“They have called me ‘mama’ accidentally more times than I would like to be called such” he laughed.
“But it goes to show that for some of them, the five days a week for 10 months out of the year they spend with me is just as much time, if not more, than they spend with their own parents and families, especially if they don’t live at home with that relative.”
Triplett has worked at the SLPS Spring Break Academy, giving extra instruction to students who struggle with math to prepare them for the year-end MAP Test. He was chosen Gateway’s 2013-14 teacher of the year, receiving the Pettus Award for Excellence from the SLPS Foundation.
For Triplett, receiving a St. Louis American Foundation’s Excellence in Education Award will kick off a new school year like no other. But rather than a plaque or certificate, perhaps the most fitting award for Triplett would be a new necktie.
