Easily Excitable

There’s a speech I use in my classroom to teach persuasive appeals called “Wisdom from a Third Grade Drop-Out.” 

If you’ve never watched this, I highly recommend it. 

This speech teaches a lot of lessons, but my favorite line is this: 

“How you do anything is how you do everything.”

This is a nugget of wisdom I wish I did a better job of following in my life.

In the current political climate, it’s rare to see that from either side on a national level. 

But I do believe we see that on a level close to home. 

A beloved aunt once told me, “I believe in local leadership.” She believed (and still does) that local leadership is special because it has the ability to affect change on a tangible and visible level. 

Our local leadership impacts each of us, along with those we bump shoulders with each day. We can’t overestimate the importance of pouring back into our community, and that begins with excellent leadership. 

And that’s what I want to talk to you about this morning. 

One of the biggest attractors to Bleckley County is our school system. 

When I first began teaching, I didn’t realize it would be something I wanted to pursue with my life, but what I did know when I started was this: there was no other place I wanted to teach than Bleckley County. 

There is a special pride in graduating from Bleckley County, then having the opportunity to return here to teach.

We fight to come back to this school system because we understand the Bleckley Way. 

The Bleckley Way is understanding, deep down, the sacrifices your teachers made to pave your path to graduation. 

The Bleckley Way is going into college, well-prepared to stand toe-to-toe with other students hailing from bigger schools that, by nature, had more resources than your own. 

The Bleckley Way is walking into a college professor’s office over and over again to correct and recorrect an essay because your 12th grade English teacher made it known that you were capable of an A if you were willing to work for it.

The Bleckley Way is loving your community and pouring back into the place that gave you a foundation for both academics and life itself. 

The Bleckley Way is expecting excellence. 

This was the school system I chose to return to. 

And, God willing, it’s the one from which I’ll retire.

Just what makes a school system great?

I believe (and I’m biased!) it requires great teachers. 

It takes students who buy into the standard of excellence (even those teenagers who don’t necessarily enjoy that standard). 

It needs parents who push their kids to achieve their best. 

It necessitates a community to support and rally around it.

But the secret sauce that makes it all work? 

It’s great leadership. 

And here in Bleckley County? 

We have the best. 

Top to bottom, our leadership can’t be beat. I’m directly under some of the best people and best leaders I know. Those include my department head, assistant principals, principal, superintendent, and board of education. 

Why? 

Because they believe in the mission I want to accomplish every day: to give students the best education possible and to prepare them for life beyond grade school. 

That leads me to Shanna Evans, who is running for the school board seat in District 5. 

It also leads me back to my aforementioned point: how you do anything is how you do everything. 

That is the leading reason why we’re successful in Bleckley County, and it’s the leading reason why I’ll be voting for Shanna, a longstanding member of Bleckley’s Board of Education. 

As a school board member?

Shanna has a spotless record. If you’d like, you can go ahead and scroll down to see that record. 

Spoiler alert? She’s always for the teachers, and she’s always for the kids. 

Again, keep scrolling if you want to see her stats. They are remarkable.

But personally, I think the personal life of a leader can’t be overlooked. 

After all, how you do anything is how you do everything: what one prioritizes in her day-to-day is a good representation of what she will prioritize as a leader. 

If you’re reading this, you may not know much about Shanna on a personal level, so let me tell you things she would never advertise: she isn’t one to talk about herself.

I’ll kick that off with a personal story about Shanna and her husband, Jed:

From a young age, my parents taught me this: people don’t forget things. 

They meant that in a positive light: that when you go above and beyond for someone, it makes a mark on that person, often in small ways you’ll never see.

This story is an example of that. 

When my younger sister, Caroline, died four years ago, my family was left reeling: for a while, everything was discombobulated. 

The day Caroline died, Jed, Shanna’s husband, was one of the first people at our house, and his was one of the first hugs I remember.  

That weekend was Caroline’s funeral, and to follow was the graveside service. 

Zayden was there for the funeral, but luckily for us, Shanna and Jed offered to take Zayden to play with their son (his best friend and favorite person in the world) so he wouldn’t have to be there for the graveside service. 

Their bringing Zayden into their home meant that, on one of the the worst days of Zayden’s life, he didn’t feel alone. Rather, he got to have playtime with his best friend. 

Shanna, along with Jed, was a steadying force when the torrent of grief was pushing against us. 

That was a small gesture, but it was enormous in that we didn’t need to worry about that graveside service being the last thing he would remember about Caroline.

And, as my parents said, people don’t forget. My family hasn’t forgotten. I haven’t forgotten. 

This is the type of woman Shanna Evans is. 

Shanna doesn’t just show that love and support to our family. 

We go to church together and Trey and I were in Jed and Shanna’s Sunday School class, so I’ve had a front row seat to her service and leadership in the church.

How you do anything is how you do everything, and Shanna is always the first to volunteer, whether that’s with serving, giving, or baking.  

She chaperones the kids’ camp, and she helps out with VBS each year. 

She serves in AWANA.

She also leads a Bible Drills class, and she is unmatched  in her ability to create songs and chants to help the kids remember their verses. 

Anyone who has any relationship to the children’s ministry knows that if you help there? 

You’re just built different. She thrives because SHANNA IS BUILT DIFFERENT. 

She’s a mom not just to her own two kids, but to countless others. 

Of course, she leads and loves the kids at church, but she ministers to the adults, too.

The Evans house is the spot for Sunday School egg hunts and get-togethers.

During baseball and football season, she becomes a team mom, always prepared with the snacks. Sitting with Shanna at any sporting event is a joy. 

Again, how you do anything is how you do everything, and her voting record backs that up. 

Again, she is a student-and-teacher minded leader. Here is her record as a board member:

Leadership consists of many decisions, sure. 

But it’s even more about the small choices made for the betterment of those in your charge. Those numbers may look like just numbers if you’re not a teacher. But if you are a teacher? 

You’re well aware that teachers, as a general rule, don’t get supplements (bonuses, if you’re in the corporate world). 

And yet, look at those numbers. 

Those may just be dollar signs to you, but if you have any adjacency to education, you know that those numbers mean families got to go on vacation. 

Children got Christmas gifts. 

Wisdom teeth were removed without having to skimp on light bills. 

Teachers felt valued in their work. 

Those are not just numbers to us teachers. 

Those numbers also reveal her desire for teacher retention, as well as teacher acquisition: she’d been a part of a team that’s prioritized bringing future talent- the best and the brightest- to Cochran to teach. 

The Bible speaks of leaders who are “beyond reproach.”

None of us hit that 100% of the time: we’re all human at the end of the day.

That’s a spiritual directive, I know, but isn’t that what we should hope for in all our leaders, both within the church and without? 

That’s why I’m voting for Shanna Evans  to represent District 5, and I hope you will too. 

Shanna is experienced, qualified, morally-driven, and faith-led: she sees every child as one made in God’s Image and worthy of the best education possible. 

After all, that’s the goal, right? That our schools would prepare our students to be contributing members to society?

Me personally? I think Shanna gives us the best shot for that here in Bleckley County. 

Shanna, I believe in you, and I can’t wait to vote for you this week!