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Page 4 - Friday, May 5, 2023
The Jenkins County Times
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I began my career as
an Agriculture teacher 25
years ago, but life has a
way of changing our plans.
Of all the hats I've worn,
I learned the most as an
agriculture teacher. I've
never worked harder than
I have as an agriculture
teacher, and I've never
really known my students
as well as I did those kids
whose parents entrusted
me to take them to FFA
Camp and return them
home safely with a trophy
proclaiming us "Team of
the Week" or to board an
airplane for the very first
time to fly to Indianapolis.
My own family
demands pushed me to the
more heralded world of
academia as a 6th grade
science teacher and onto
math and social studies
too. At some point in time.
I've taught all grades 6
through 12. I've taught
everything from welding
to woodworking to algebra.
I'm one of those teachers
who loves teaching more
than they love their subject.
If Tara Cooper wanted me
to teach mandarin Chinese,
I think I'd try it, albeit
with a distinct southern
accent. Almost everything
I know about teaching,
I learned while teaching
Agriculture, a vocational
class. Oh, I know some
of you hoity toits will
raise your eyebrows and
some of you vocational
folks will look down your
nose and proclaim, "it's
not vocational, it's career
and technical education".
laments the fact that she
berated a 6 ft tall boy
towering over her in tears,
for not appreciating The
Scarlet Letter. He was not
"proficient" in reading. In
our test obsessive society,
he was a screwup, a failure,
a loser. The teacher is
deeply saddened that she
failed to recognize his
strengths. This "failure"
she berated worked nights
at his uncle's mechanic’s
shop. He knew the names
of every part of every motor
ever mass produced and
he could take them apart
and put them together- all
without the help of the
Scarlet Letter. How terrible
is it that instead of honing
his strengths, she, just like
we all tend to do, focused
on his failures? The blog
author said she had tried
so hard to find this kid
and apologize. She'd heard
he was quite a successful
mechanic. Now I love the
Scarlet Letter, but you
know what? I love a guy
who can fix my car too!
As this school year
winds down, may we all
remember to encourage
students to aspire beyond a
job and toward a vocation,
the place where God calls
them. The place where
their happiness intersects
with the world's needs.
And during this teacher
appreciation let us all
reflect on the immense
influence teachers have on
their students. May we all
be worthy of such a high
calling.
Little Buckhead Cemetery Restoration Underway
By Steven Rathbun, Special Contributor
for
The Times
The local Buckhead-Fort Lawton Brigade,
Camp No. 2102, Sons of Confederate
Veterans, has initiated a long-term cleanup
and restoration project at the Little Buckhead
Cemetery, on Old Perkins Road. In addition
to routine grounds maintenance, the Camp
has begun repairing and remounting broken,
sunken, and overturned headstones, but still
has much work to do. Pictured leveling a
sunken headstone are from left: Compatriot
Dale Wiggins, Compatriot Larry Fleming,
First Lieutenant Commander Neil Dickey, and
Compatriot Steve Burke. Photo contributed.
Just off
the
Paved
Road
By Joe Brady, Editor
for
The Times
lAfartU'ol'
This home just SOLD!
Carmen Bennett
Columnist
The Times
Spare me. We did a great
disservice to education
when we abandoned the
word vocational.
We all know the words
"job" and "career", but
we seldom ponder the
true meaning of the word
vocation. Vocation comes
from the Latin word
"vocare", which means
"voice", or to follow the
voice of God- to follow
our calling so to speak.
Wow. Profound. I consider
a vocation far, far more
rewarding, and honorable
than a job or a career.
Becky Horst, dean of
Goshen College, says " a
vocation is a calling which
merges our mission in life
with God's mission on
Earth." How dare we look
down our noses at such a
calling. You see why I still
proudly proclaim myself
a "vocational teacher"?
Horst goes on to remind us,
"The place God calls you is
where your deep gladness
and the world's hunger
meet. That intersecting
point is your calling, your
vocation". How truly
personal is that? Wow.
What a monumental calling
this teaching thing is.
I recently read a blog
linked by a cousin of mine.
The blog was written by
a fomier public-school
teacher who claims she
was "brainwashed". I feel
her pain, and I hope many
schoolteachers who read
this will recognize their
own brainwashing. She
recalls her early years as
an English teacher. She
By Hannah Derisso
for
The Times
Terri Reeves lives with
her husband, Mike, and
their 3 dogs, Petey, Rosie,
and Oso, and cat. Doodle,
on their working cattle fami
in Jenkins County. Mother
of four beautiful girls,
Claire, Hannah, Kate, and
Lillian, and grandmother to
Eli, Cora, and Bates, Terri
enjoys painting, cooking,
gardening, and taking
care of her family. Owner
of the Magnolia Cottage,
an AirBNB located
in downtown Millen,
and head of the Family
Outreach program at Millen
Methodist Church, Terri is
active in the community
and volunteers regularly,
as well as prepares
Wednesday Night Supper
weekly for her church
whole celebration, whether
small and simple or grand
and over the top, it takes
a lot of preparation, a lot
of thought and decision
making and just for the
day of the wedding! How
much more thought and
preparation need to be
done for the marriage
itself? Make sure more
time, effort, and thought
are spent on your marriage
than are spent on your
wedding day.”
Terri
Reeves
congregation. Former
owner of The Charm
Bam, she is skilled and
knowledgeable in all
things wedding related
and still plans and
decorates for weddings
around the southeast
area.
With wedding season
upon us, what’s the one
piece of advice you would
give soon-to-be-wed and
newlywed young people?
“Make your wedding
about your marriage,
not your marriage about
the wedding. Remember
your wedding is really
about your marriage, two
becoming one. The flowers,
the food, the music, the
Now, in case you didn’t
know, I get a lot of traffic
in and out of my office.
Most of the time, it’s
readers wanting to say hi.
Or, and I try to weed these
out, they want to complain.
Of course, those people
like to complain on social
media, they won’t do it
face to face. But every now
and then I get words of
inspiration.
A good friend of mine
recently paid me a visit
and shared a sweet,
inspirational story. Her
son called her recently
because her granddaughter
was being conned out of
her lunch. Well, let’s call it
what it is. The class bully
was taking her lunch. As I
listened to the story, I could
feel the hair raise up on
the back of my neck. “Oh
no. I’d would be at that
school!” I said.
So, my friend and her son
held a family intervention.
They began their speech by
explaining to the little girl,
who is in the second grade,
that bullying is wrong.
She should report the little
boy to the teacher or the
principal, or somebody.
The little girl looked at the
adults and said, “Daddy, I
don’t think he has any food.
I don’t mind giving him
my lunch cause that’s all
he has.” At this statement,
I was shocked into silence.
Wow, how profound!
Who just gave all the
adults in the room a lesson
in Christianity? WWJD,
and obviously I am asking
because I don’t know. Were
all of you getting angry
like I was? How many of
us were looking for our car
keys to go fight this little
girl’s battles for her?
“Please don’t make
me stop.” She asked her
parents. So, her mother,
every morning as she
makes her daughter’s
lunch, includes an extra.
It’s actions like this that
restore my faith in people.
Can’t we all be like this
little girl? That’s all for
now, take care.
Letters To The
EDITOR
Letters to the editor of The Jenkins County Times are welcomed and encour
aged. These are pages of opinion, yours and ours. Letters to the editor voice
the opinions of the newspaper s readers. The Jenkins County Times reserves
the right to edit any and all portions of a letter. Unsigned letters will not be
published. Letters must include the signature, address andphone number of the
writer to allow our staff to authenticate its origin. Letters should be limited to
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hand. Deadline for letters to the editor is noon on Wednesday. Email Letters
to the Editor to: thejenkinscountytimes@gmail.com
.Jenkins County Times
Proudly covering Jenkins County’s news, sports, and community events
Sam Eades Publisher
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Jake Gay Reporter
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THE JENKINS COUNTY TIMES
issue 9 May 2023 is published weekly by on Friday
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