Joni Jones, Teacher, Mother, and Former PTA President

Joni Jones, teacher, mother, and former PTA president, is Gabrielle Giffords’ Supporter of the Week. “For me, Gabby has become a symbol of the strength that the electorate has to change the direction of the government,” Joni said.

Joni was born in Tucson, and attended Robinson Elementary School on Tucson Blvd. When she was a girl, her family moved to Washington, DC, where her father worked for the U.S. Agency for International Development.

When she was in eighth grade, her family moved to Panama. She attended High School at Balboa High School in the American-operated Panama Canal Zone. “Growing up in Panama was a great experience. It was diverse and exciting, seeing the political turmoil that exists outside of the United States.”

Joni returned to Tucson for college. “There was always a draw to move back here,” she said. “I always felt at home here.” Joni attended U of A, and majored in Education. She also met her future husband, Gary, in her freshman year.

After college, she taught first grade in Tucson Unified School District for four years. She and Gary then moved to Quito, Ecuador, for two years, where Joni taught second grade. “I loved Ecuador. It’s very calm and peaceful. It has the climate like the eternal spring.”

Joni and Gary have also lived in Rio de Janiero, Brazil; Bogota, Colombia; Houston, Texas; and Surrey, England. In Brazil, Joni and Gary adopted a son, Matthew; and in Colombia, they adopted a daughter, Mara.

In May of 2005, Joni and Gary moved back to Tucson because of their ties to Southern Arizona and also because both of their mothers live here. “I love being back in Tucson,” she said.

Being back in the United States also gave Joni a chance to get involved with working to change the direction in Washington. “I really wanted to get involved in some way in this election,” she said. “It was frustrating being overseas and only being able to complain about the status of the U.S. government. When I came back to the U.S. I wanted to find someone to volunteer for, and I found that in Gabby.”

Joni first met Gabrielle Giffords at a house party. “I liked her warmth and sincerity. I like that she made it a point to get to know everybody in the room and have an eye-to-eye conversation with everyone.”

“She checked all the boxes in my mind on the issues,” Joni said. “I like her stance on the war and on immigration. That she felt that we did not belong there [in Iraq] to begin with,” Joni said. “There was no agenda that fostered hate and bigotry.”

Joni also citing her record on the environment and choice issues. “Her idea of investing oil company tax breaks in renewable energy made a lot of sense. One of her attractions was also her position on a woman’s right to choose.”

Joni will always be fondly remembered among the Giffords for Congress staff because of her daily presence in the Cactus Roots Campaign Headquarters and also because of the healthy breakfast that she brought every single day to the nutrition-starved campaign staffers.