Newsmaker: Keeping Up with the Joneses

Going through the elementary school’s dumpster with the school librarian one summer in Paducah, Kentucky, had a larger impact on Tanya Jones’s family than she ever imagined.

It began when Tanya was looking for old textbooks to use in an informal home summer school she and her husband, Adolphus, were planning for their seven children. The school librarian suggested looking through the library’s trash, so Tanya did.

The principal heard about the Joneses’ plan for a home summer school and was impressed. A few months later he suggested their name to a local reporter who was looking for families to spotlight in a news story about education. The article, which appeared in a Paducah newspaper, evoked a surprising amount of response.

“I was amazed at the number of people who read it, remembered it, and actually called me up to talk about it,” Tanya said.

The article listed nine ways in which Tanya and Adolphus encourage their children to learn. Two of the ways mentioned were to read nightly from the scriptures and to have a weekly family night.

Tanya said three women called asking how to conduct a weekly family night, so Tanya invited them over to lunch and showed them the Church’s family home evening videos. “I was very excited, and they loved it,” said Tanya, who joined the Church because of a cottage meeting she attended in Louisiana.

Another point discussed in the article was that the Jones family does not own a television.

“A lot of my children’s friends were shocked to learn that we don’t have a television,” Tanya said. “They asked my children what they do if they don’t watch TV.”

What the Jones family does is actively participate in projects around the home and complete “challenges” they set for themselves. For example, Peachie, the second oldest in the family, placed second in a spelling bee contest this year. Wishing she could have placed first, Peachie set the challenge to start studying the list of spelling words during the summer.

“We are a busy family. Our children want to play and go out and be involved in things. My husband and I just do our best to try to teach them what we can about work and the gospel,” remarked Tanya.

The Joneses are members of the Paducah Ward in the Hopkinsville Kentucky Stake, where Tanya serves as ward music chairperson and Adolphus serves on the high council.—Lois Brown, Springville, Utah

Photo by Matthew Reier