When Jennifer Case sips her hot, steaming cup of morning joe, she knows she made the right choice.

Case, 36, is a first-grade teacher at West Lincoln Elementary, where she was recently chosen as the school’s Teacher of the Year.

It’s her husband, Neil Case, who knows it’s the coffee that gets her ready to face a classroom of 6- and 7-year-olds.

“My precious husband even fixes my coffee pot for me every night. Even he knows I require it to function,” she said.

Making coffee isn’t the only thing that her husband is good at. He’s a math whiz from way back. They met when they were both students at Copiah-Lincoln Community College in a college algebra class.

“He’s very good at math and we will just say it isn’t my strongest subject,” she said. “He was always so patient to answer all my questions. We had so much in common and a few months later we started dating.”

Four years later, after they graduated from Mississippi College, he took her back to Co-Lin where they first met.

He asked for her hand and she eagerly agreed.

That was 13 years and two kids ago. They’re parents to Evan, 9, and Aaron, 2.

Being a mother and a teacher requires a super power and Case knows what hers would be if she could pick it.

“To be in two places at one time,” she said. “I love teaching and being at school with my students but I definitely miss my baby when I’m working so it would be great to be able to teach and to be at school with my 9-year-old and stay home with my baby, too.

Case is originally from Bogue Chitto, but has lived in West Lincoln for 13 years. She attends Bogue Chitto Baptist Church and serves as church secretary. She teaches vacation Bible school in the summer and serves on the children’s committee.

She’s also a member of Mississippi Professional Educators.