MADISON – Her peers at Discovery Middle School have chosen Sheila Oliver as “2020 Staff Member of the Year.”

It was such a crazy time with all of the e-learning technology support going on that it was a total surprise,” Oliver said.

Oliver has worked with Madison City Schools in technology support for 13-plus years. “I started off at Columbia Elementary School and then was split between Columbia and Heritage elementary before taking the job at Discovery,” she said. Before her association with MCS, Oliver at Methodist Hospital in Mississippi as support in the operating room department and in Oklahoma with an investment company.

“With all of the COVID-19 scares and life changes, I would say that today’s teens are very adaptable and resilient. There are so many stresses on today’s youth in everyday life in general that we never would have imagined when we were their ages,” Oliver said.

Oliver meets many students who impress her. As a group, the students in the developmentally delayed classes at Discovery make the greatest impact. “They have the purest hearts that you could ever imagine. They come into the building with smiles and leave the same way. We should all be more like that,” she said.

She is married to retired U.S. Army EOD Tracy Oliver. Currently, he works on Redstone Arsenal. Their daughters are Kelsey Oliver of Somerville and Michaela Oliver of Madison.

“Outside of work, I love to explore and discover waterfalls and swimming holes in Alabama and Tennessee. There are so many amazing things to see right in our own backyard that do not require a passport,” Sheila said.

“I also run for St Jude Children’s Research Hospital every chance I get. I am recovering from knee surgery, so I had to put that on hold for a little while. In the meantime, I mountain bike, mostly on Wheeler Wildlife Refuge along the Tennessee River, and hike,” Oliver said.