⦿ When we went from 59 to 11 schools in Macon County (you can read my historical essay here), we lost a tremendous amount when we lost our community schools. We lost many, not all, vital connections. We lost a lot, not all, of our community support. We have lost continuity of a single child’s educational progress from kindergarten through twelfth grade. We created multiple and ever-widening cracks for our students, our children to fall through. And so one of the reasons I'm running is I want to bring back some of that community. I want to get rid of this wall. I want to get rid of this barrier that exists between the Central Office and school board and everybody else who is a stakeholder.
⦿ I have been witness to what my family has done for public education. My mom was a public school teacher, my father and sister Anne were and continue to be relentless advocates. My sister Susie started the Highlands Literacy Council. My parents had me walking the sidewalks of Highlands in 1975 or 1976, with a sandwich board sign on my small frame to support the bond referendum that built the Macon Middle School. That's my family's investment in public education. I’ve spent almost 29 years in the classroom and doing advocacy work at the state and local level and now I want to take that investment, that generational work to the office of Macon County School Board.
⦿If elected to the Macon County School Board, I will fight every day to make sure our students are properly challenged and held to high standards.
⦿ I promise conservative stewardship of taxpayer dollars. If we as a Board, as an administrative team,. cannot adequately make the case that every dollar spent adds value to a child's educational life than that's a dollar that either needs to be spent somewhere else or not at all.
⦿ Beginning with early voting on October 17th, culminating with Election Day on November 5th, the voters of Macon County will have a new choice on the ballot. You'll have a 29 year veteran of the classroom on the ballot, you'll have a former Macon County Teacher of the Year on the ballot, you'll have a 29 year tireless public education advocate on the ballot who has put his job on the line for his fellow teachers, who successfully sued the State on behalf of teacher's rights. You'll have a local education leader who has fought every budget battle... sometimes I got knocked down, sometimes members of the General Assembly came to join the fight to knock me down. And every single time I have gotten knocked down, I have gotten back up to fight again. And where have I found that strength and energy to keep up this fight?
⦿ Half of it is the goal, to open doors for a child, to foster critical thinking, to foster empowerment in students, to watch them find and develop their own voices. I always tell them, "one deVille is enough, I'm not here to create robots, I want you to find your groove, your passion, and make your way."
⦿ The other crucial half of the equation to keep fighting comes from my friends and family, who always support AND push me. I find massive energy field of support from all the communities of Macon County. I've been campaigning hard for the past month and spent substantial time in Highlands, Nantahala, and Franklin meeting with parents,. community leaders, and concerned citizens. I set up a tent a few weeks ago in the middle of Franklin and I'll be out there again on August 10th. I've listened to so many people who have such different life experiences and perspectives from my own.
⦿ And what has been so rewarding, so enriching, so exciting, and such an amplifier of faith in this fight is that despite the different experiences and perspectives, we so easily find common ground in not just the desire to pass the torch to the next generation, but to pass a substantial torch. One that burns authentically with our values of hard work, love of fellow person, love of extended family, love of community, devotion to skill, of doing the right thing and doing the right thing right.
⦿ It is from that common center of agreement that I wish to lead and from that center I'm asking for your continued support and your vote.
⦿ I have been witness to what my family has done for public education. My mom was a public school teacher, my father and sister Anne were and continue to be relentless advocates. My sister Susie started the Highlands Literacy Council. My parents had me walking the sidewalks of Highlands in 1975 or 1976, with a sandwich board sign on my small frame to support the bond referendum that built the Macon Middle School. That's my family's investment in public education. I’ve spent almost 29 years in the classroom and doing advocacy work at the state and local level and now I want to take that investment, that generational work to the office of Macon County School Board.
⦿If elected to the Macon County School Board, I will fight every day to make sure our students are properly challenged and held to high standards.
⦿ I promise conservative stewardship of taxpayer dollars. If we as a Board, as an administrative team,. cannot adequately make the case that every dollar spent adds value to a child's educational life than that's a dollar that either needs to be spent somewhere else or not at all.
⦿ Beginning with early voting on October 17th, culminating with Election Day on November 5th, the voters of Macon County will have a new choice on the ballot. You'll have a 29 year veteran of the classroom on the ballot, you'll have a former Macon County Teacher of the Year on the ballot, you'll have a 29 year tireless public education advocate on the ballot who has put his job on the line for his fellow teachers, who successfully sued the State on behalf of teacher's rights. You'll have a local education leader who has fought every budget battle... sometimes I got knocked down, sometimes members of the General Assembly came to join the fight to knock me down. And every single time I have gotten knocked down, I have gotten back up to fight again. And where have I found that strength and energy to keep up this fight?
⦿ Half of it is the goal, to open doors for a child, to foster critical thinking, to foster empowerment in students, to watch them find and develop their own voices. I always tell them, "one deVille is enough, I'm not here to create robots, I want you to find your groove, your passion, and make your way."
⦿ The other crucial half of the equation to keep fighting comes from my friends and family, who always support AND push me. I find massive energy field of support from all the communities of Macon County. I've been campaigning hard for the past month and spent substantial time in Highlands, Nantahala, and Franklin meeting with parents,. community leaders, and concerned citizens. I set up a tent a few weeks ago in the middle of Franklin and I'll be out there again on August 10th. I've listened to so many people who have such different life experiences and perspectives from my own.
⦿ And what has been so rewarding, so enriching, so exciting, and such an amplifier of faith in this fight is that despite the different experiences and perspectives, we so easily find common ground in not just the desire to pass the torch to the next generation, but to pass a substantial torch. One that burns authentically with our values of hard work, love of fellow person, love of extended family, love of community, devotion to skill, of doing the right thing and doing the right thing right.
⦿ It is from that common center of agreement that I wish to lead and from that center I'm asking for your continued support and your vote.
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