Johnathan “Jack” Shelton is one of the many friendly, fun-loving and charming seniors at The Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science. Shelton was born in Hot Springs, AK, but he resides in Vicksburg, MS, where he attended Warren Central High School. There, Shelton was a member of the cross country team as well as the Madrigal Choir; however, he felt the need to come to MSMS. “I came to MSMS to experience an academic challenge because I basically just sat at my home school and made A’s,” explained Shelton.   

Coming to MSMS, Shelton smoothly transitioned into being a piece of the puzzle. He is a member of various clubs, and he evens a class officer position. “At MSMS, I am the president of F.C.S. (Fellowship of Christian Students) and Chief Editor of the yearbook. I was on the soccer team, and I play the ultimate frisbee games. I am an emissary as well as Senior Class Historian,” said Shelton.  

Because of his sociable natural, Shelton is an emissary; he applied for the role because he cherished his emissaries during the beginning of his junior year at MSMS. “I felt that I could be a good fit for the role, and I liked the idea of being someone that the juniors could always come to for advice or anything else they needed,” Shelton explained. He never meets a stranger because he will talk to anyone.

“Jack’s been one of my greatest friends at MSMS since junior year, and he’s always been there for every student he comes into contact with. He loves to talk, and he’ll gladly talk your ear off to help you feel better,” said Senior Camryn Mason.

Now that he is a current emissary, he enjoys doing all emissary duties, such as giving tours and answering questions for prospective students. “It’s cool to offer them a perspective that they can’t get from adults that work at the school,” told Shelton.

During his free time, Shelton enjoys doing activities mostly all teenagers enjoy doing. “My hobbies include listening to music, riding around town with friends, running, photography and spending time with my family.”

“Jack is honestly one of my best friends. We go on more roommate dates than all the couples on campus combined, we take naps after every film class, and we have the best conversations at 1:00 a.m.” said senior August Andre.

Shelton also enjoys doing community service. “What I’ve enjoyed most was last summer when I was a counselor at Camp Silvercloud in Vicksburg, an overnight camp for special needs people put on by our local Junior Auxiliary,”  Shelton explained.

After graduating from MSMS, Shelton will be attending Tennessee Technological University in the fall of 2019 and majoring in civil engineering. Eventually, he wants to become a civil engineer for the federal government. “I’m interested in how forces and structures work in physics. The idea of designing buildings, bridges, and roads, among other things is cool to me,” explained Shelton, “My dad is also a civil engineer, and I’ve always looked up to him, so as a kid it was always my dream.”

Shelton leaves this advice for the junior class: “My advice to the junior class is to not overload themselves with clubs and classes because it creates much unnecessary stress.”