During graduation season, a family in Mississippi had a great time. Because three of them got their degrees at the same time.
Commondre Cole, 45, and his two grown children, Ja’Coby Cole, 25, and Iesha Gully, 27, all got their master’s degrees in education from Mississippi State University-Meridian.
Commondre’s mom, Mary Cole, couldn’t help but be proud, and she had every right to be, so she posted about it on social media.
“They’re all mine! They MASTERED it!!” Mary posted a message on Facebook with a video and some pictures.
Commondre keeps watching the video of the ceremony because he loves that he and his children walked across the stage to accept their diplomas.
“I love to go watch the video. I was first. Cole was second, and Iesha came in third behind us. That was a special moment,” he told FOX Television Stations.
The three of them teach. All three of them were among the 153 people who graduated from MSU-Meridian in the spring.
Commondre works at Northwest Middle School as a health teacher. Ja’Coby is an Oakland Heights Elementary physical education teacher. The Meridian Public School District is where these schools can be found.
At MSU-Meridian’s commencement today, father Commondre Cole, his daughter Lesha Gully and his son Ja’Coby Cole all graduated with their Master of Arts in Teaching, Secondary Teacher Alternate Route degrees. MSU supports the program’s aim of preparing more qualified educators. pic.twitter.com/q79Au0v7uW
— Sid Salter (@sidsalter) May 12, 2022
Iesha Gully is a second-grade inclusion teacher at Northeast Elementary in the Lauderdale County School District. She doesn’t want anyone else to be better than her.
“We were taking like some of the same classes,” Iesha said. “So we were studying together, trying to get ready for mid-terms and final exams..so it was a blessing at the end of the day.”
The family competed with each other in a friendly way while helping each other get their degrees.
Ja’Coby said, “Family is everything,” Ja’Coby said. “You always got to have someone watching your back, keep on you.”
MSU-Meridian does offer classes that count for credit, classes that don’t count for credit, and classes that can be taken online, so that was good for the family.
Jessica Gully-Cole, who is Commondre’s wife, is also a teacher.
She was the one who pushed him to go back to school and get his degree.
He told WTOK-TV, “Really my wife, she already has her specialist,” he told WTOK-TV. “She said you might as well go back to school with the kids. I decided to go back with them and we accomplished this and we’re all walking together.”
Iesha went first. In the fall of 2020, she will start working on her degree. Then, in the spring of the next year, her dad and brother went to join her.
Ja’Coby liked sports, so he never thought he’d get to be a teacher. But even though he had doubts or didn’t know what to expect, he is proud to have the same job as his parents and sister.
Ja’Coby knew he needed a backup plan, so he thought of doing what they did.
The graduation ceremonies for this year took place at the MSU Riley Center. After two years of the same event being held in different places because of the pandemic, this is great news.
It’s a big deal for the family. Their younger siblings look up to them as role models in their own home because they lead by example. Iesha says they had a strong start and a strong end.