First Things First!

Welcome to a new feature on our website!  I will attempt to create a (somewhat) weekly blog which will range in topics depending on the time of year, what's happening in our school, or whatever happens to be on my mind.  You will be able to learn more about me and Sumner Academy while following along with the blogs I post.  I welcome your comments and feedback through my email address: sjackson@sumneracademy.org.  This blog will be emailed to you and available through Face Book and Twitter (@sumnerhead).

I do not claim to be an expert in any field.  I only know about what I have experienced during my 30-year education career at five different schools, being a father of a 25 year old son, Tucker, and an 22 year old daughter, Madelyn…and husband to a very understanding former teacher, Amy for what will be 28 years in August.

Fair Warning Notice!  I beg, borrow, and steal ideas from people much smarter than myself to share in this forum.  When appropriate, I'll give you the specific sources, magazine articles, websites, or books that I reference.

This first blog will give you some insight as to who I am through three guys who influenced me.

Three Guys

Being an educator is a great gift and blessing, but a tremendous responsibility.  In my educational career of thirty years, there are three men who helped to shape me into the person, headmaster, principal, teacher, husband, father, uncle, and guy I am today.  Here is a story on how each of these three guys made me a better educator...

Wayne T. Jackson

My father was born and raised in Bowling Green, Kentucky.  He was the second youngest of four brothers.  His mother died when he was a child, and his father raised the four boys on his own.  Each of the four brothers served in World Ward II, and each was in a different branch of the service.  (Amazingly, they all came back)  After the war, Dad met Joyce Myers and they married and had three sons.  My father was a high school graduate and worked for twenty-four years in a paper factory as a beater engineer.  He spent another twenty some odd years as a head custodian in an elementary school.  He taught me how to run a buffer and several other machines as I would help him from time to time at the school.  Dad pulled a little wagon around with him at school with cleaning supplies and a few books.  Children stopped him frequently to ask him to read to them or to their class. 

I learned from Dad that there are more teachers in a school then there are credentials.  Also, that I should value those who clean up after us, run photo copies, drive buses, prepare lunches, etc.  Each person on our campus interacts in some way with our students, and they are all teachers.

James Rogers Hall

When I married a woman from Cleveland, Mississippi, I knew there would be some culture shock for me since I was from Kalamazoo, Michigan.  Her father, Rogers Hall, was born and raised in Memphis, attended three universities...and none of them really "stuck." He then began farming in Cleveland, Mississippi.  Mr. Hall valued education and the impact it can have on your life.  He served on the board of Mary Baldwin College in Staunton, Virginia.  When the other trustees would introduce themselves, they gave their "educational pedigree."  Mr. Hall would state the following, I have three children, one who is an attorney, one who is a banker, and one who teaches and has her masters degree.  He highlighted not his own achievements, but those of his children...and especially the value of education. 

I learned from Mr. Hall to continue your learning, because as smart as you think you are, there is always more to learn.

S, Scott Hamrick

Mr. Hamrick was from a large family in North Carolina and eventually moved to Charlottesville, Virginia to become the principal of Clark Elementary School.  My first teaching job was with Mr. Hamrick.  His insights into children, parents, and working with other teachers allowed me to excel right away in teaching.  One day we were talking about things and I told him I was going to build some shelves for a room in our home.  He asked me if I had the tools, having very few, he offered to assist me in his shop in the basement of his home.  This took about three nights for three weeks.  The experience provided me more than lessons of picking out wood, or sanding it properly, it provided me life lessons I still carry today.  He once gave driving lessons to one of our custodians who never learned to drive and wanted a license...he was 60.  Mr. Hamrick came to me one Friday afternoon and handed me the name and number of a professor at the University of Virginia.  He told me to call him to set up my Master's degree program.  I was thinking about this, but hadn't really decided until Mr. Hamrick told me this, "Steve, you are an outstanding teacher, but can be an even better principal."  I was sold.  Scott Hamrick serves as my educational mentor in all that I do. 

I learned from him never to make snap decisions, how to work positively with others, how to motivate a staff, and how to be a servant to others.

Respiratory issues took my father and father-law within four months of each other several years ago.  Cancer claimed Mr. Hamrick a few years later.

Mitch Albom wrote an incredible book called, "The Five People You Meet in Heaven."  In this book, the story of a simple man is recounted through his life and death.  After his death, he meets five individuals who helped to shape his life and the man he became.  As I write about these three guys who shaped my life, this simple man certainly hopes we will someday meet again.