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1 Mar 2026

Hampton’s Holmes and a Garden Worth Planting

Hampton County School District board secretary Debra Holmes

There is a saying, “An apple a day keeps the doctor away.” If this is true, imagine what an entire garden of fruits and vegetables could accomplish.

In 2020, one year after the pandemic began, Debra Holmes, board secretary for Hampton County School District, lost her husband. She sought healing through a family tradition continued with the late Rev. James Kenneth Holmes: gardening.

“I could not go to work, so I began planting and growing,” Holmes said. “Spending hours in the sun and fresh air with my hands in the dirt was therapeutic.”

Holmes’ love of gardening traces back to her grandfather, the late Rev. Clarence L. Fennell, a farmer and pastor who provided fresh produce to his community. His legacy inspired Holmes to turn her passion into a business—HolmesGrown Farms.

“Because of his philanthropy, the elementary school in Yemassee is named in his honor,” she said. “As a child, I watched my parents, uncles and grandparents grow various vegetables. When I became an adult, my husband and I always had a small garden.”

HolmesGrown Farms offers a wide variety of fresh produce, from strawberries, watermelons, tomatoes and cucumbers to beans, peas, okra, greens, peppers, cabbage, collards and corn.

Farming is only one of Holmes’ inherited legacies.

“Entrepreneurship and service are part of my DNA,” she said. “My parents were entrepreneurs, and my paternal grandparents were business owners. After college, I worked in my family’s businesses.”

When her parents retired, Holmes followed her passion, founding Aaron’s Embroidery in Hampton, S.C. She said she balances business with giving back.

“I enjoy seeing the smiles on my customers’ faces when I create personalized items,” she said. “There’s nothing like giving a gift that shows thought and effort.”

Holmes also helps businesses promote their brands through clothing, calling it “…just another way I serve.”

Inspired by her father, a licensed contractor and electrician, she also explores real estate.

“As a child, I followed him on various jobsites,” she said. “Passing him tools and assisting however I could helped me develop a love of building, restoring and revitalizing properties.”

Her experience as a business owner taught her patience and effective communication, skills she has applied as a school board member for the past seven years.

“Patience is essential when listening to others’ concerns and communicating with different personalities,” she said. “As a board member, I try to understand viewpoints and remain flexible to make decisions in the best interest of families, teachers, staff and the district.”

Lessons from gardening and entrepreneurship translate into service, Holmes said.

“Being part of a school system that shapes young minds academically and molds character extends my love of seeing things come to life through service and care,” she said.

Holmes grew up surrounded by people who give selflessly.

“I am often thanked for decisions in business and on the board that create positive change,” she said. “It feels good to know I contribute to improvements in students’, families’ and staff lives.”

As first lady of a congregation, married to a pastor, Holmes embraced the same commitment to service her mother modeled. She said growing up in a Christian home, she saw the sacrifices her parents made to defend others’ rights.

“As a child in the late sixties and early seventies, I watched my father take unpaid time off work to fight for people mistreated on their jobs,” she said. “People knew he would speak up for those who didn’t know how.”

Holmes’ children continue the tradition through a foundation honoring their father. The foundation provides scholarships to high school students planning college and supports mentorship programs.

Whether as a school board member, first lady, gardener, entrepreneur or mother, her service embodies “community civility,” Holmes said.

“To be part of a team working to provide a safe place for students to learn and grow is a wonderful feeling,” she said. “It extends my love of building and growing.”

1 Feb 2026

br0zNynn3 Board Member Spotlight

Sumter’s Canty Leads From Every Seat

Sumter School District Board of Trustees member the Rev. Dr. Ralph Canty

The 3 Ps of His Public Life: Presence, Perception, Persuasion

The Bible speaks of the typical human lifespan as around 70 years and 80, or fourscore, for the exceptionally strong. On Oct. 9, 1945, in Sumter, S.C., one of the most formidable and prolific community organizers to emerge from the Pee Dee region was born to the Rev. Benjamin F. Canty Sr. and Rena (Smith) Canty: Sumter School District Board of Trustees member the Rev. Dr. Ralph Canty.

A combination of the Jim Crow era, the hood and, most profoundly, the church shaped his leadership acumen. Because he defines leadership through the three Ps — presence, perception and persuasion — rather than position, Canty said life behind the iron curtain of apartheid offered countless opportunities for development as a leader, spokesperson, advocate and crusader.

At age 10, he experienced the first of many “come to Jesus” moments shaping the leader he remains today.

On Sunday, Feb. 26, 1956, Canty’s pastor, the Rev. H. P. Sharper, the Rev. J. A. Rice and Clarence Mitchell, longtime lobbyist for the NAACP, challenged the “whites only” ticket window and waiting area at the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Station in Florence, S.C.

The station featured separate facilities for white and African American passengers, a common segregation practice. The “colored” waiting room often occupied less prominent space. Mitchell and the others were arrested after using the “whites only” door. The incident drew national attention and contributed to the abolition of segregated entrances across the South.

“As a 10-year-old, I had no idea how far-reaching the implications of their actions were, but I knew it took courage to confront the system,” Canty said. He learned of the incident the following Sunday when a church deacon briefed the congregation. “It gave me a new perspective on the ‘whites only’ barriers I had accepted as usual and customary. As I trembled in awe, my consciousness of race, self-worth and purpose changed radically.”

Canty said he left church carrying renewed resolve to confront and dismantle hate, evil, oppression and injustice wherever they appeared.

From ages 14 to 18, Canty served as president of the Baptist Training Union at his home church and later was elected first treasurer of the youth department of the Progressive National Baptist Convention Inc. during its founding.

He participated in the Boy Scouts of America and Explorers and served as president of the Teenage Birthday Club, the youth council and the Morris College NAACP chapter. He also served as president of his high school senior class, college sophomore class and the student government association.

Much of his early work focused on dismantling visible walls of segregation across his community. He later played a central role in designing the blueprint for the Sumter Movement of the NAACP, which helped remove some of the remaining barriers.

Training during those years proved both experiential and intellectual, Canty said.

“When cross-cultural exchanges became more prevalent,” he said, “I was comfortable sitting at the table as an equal.”

While perspectives often differed, Canty insisted collaboration remained possible through shared vision, values and purpose. Wisdom offers pathways around distraction and obstruction where mutuality does not exist, Canty said. While racial divisiveness remains significant and must never be dismissed, divisiveness of any kind by any group also demands attention.

“Civility is a credential of the civilized but an enigma for the uncouth,” Canty said.

Canty describes leadership as an art that galvanizes others, inspires pursuit of visions larger than life and empowers people to maximize collective ability beyond imagination.

“Leaders must remember one essential truth: if no one follows, the role becomes insignificant and inconsequential,” he said.

Across decades, Canty often served in multiple leadership roles simultaneously, a pattern that characterized much of his adult life.

During the 1970s, he served as pastor at Savannah Grove Baptist Church while also operating Job’s Mortuary Inc. and Hazel’s Country Diner. At the same time, he was director of alumni affairs and public relations at Morris College and hosted a daily gospel radio broadcast.

In the 1980s, his service expanded further. He continued as pastor and proprietor of Job’s Mortuary while serving as president of the Progressive National Baptist Convention Inc. and the S.C. Baptist Congress of Christian Education. He also remained active as a radio host. At age 35, Canty said he became the youngest person ever elected to lead a major religious denomination in America.

During the 1990s, Canty again balanced multiple roles, serving as pastor, proprietor, member of the South Carolina General Assembly and radio host.

In later years, his leadership continued as pastor at Savannah Grove and West End Community Church, proprietor of Job’s Mortuary and Smith-Canty Funeral Service, interim general secretary of the Progressive National Baptist Convention, moderator of the Pee Dee Baptist Association and president of Iris Communications Inc. He also served intermittently as a school board member across several decades.

“Successful leadership across multiple roles,” he said, “begins with understanding personal limitations, valuing others’ abilities and surrounding oneself with capable contributors.”

Critical to the emergence of his enduring legacy was his call to serve as pastor of Savannah Grove Baptist Church at age 23. Founded in 1866, the church was organized under a brush harbor on a one-acre parcel in Florence County’s Effingham community. More than five decades later, the once-agrarian congregation has grown cosmopolitan in mission and ministry.

When he arrived, the campus covered five acres. Today, it spans 51 acres, including the Heritage Sanctuary (1939) and a new sanctuary, parsonage, educational complex, senior citizens facility, conference center and media center. The annual budget has grown from under $20,000 to more than $1 million.

In partnership with Florence County, the church supports a 21-acre community park featuring ballfields, courts, a walking track and picnic space. It also hosts a National Defense Fund Freedom School and supports SMART School, an in-house initiative providing student remediation and tutoring.

Despite these accomplishments, Canty said celebration matters less to him than accountability.

“(There are) moments which call us from the extreme to center, moments where character or color is not nearly as significant as community,” Canty said.

Canty is married to the former Toye J. Richburg and is the father of six children, seven grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

1 Jan 2026

br0zNynn3 Board Member Spotlight

Iva’s Davis: A legacy passed down in service, banking and faith

Anderson County School Board member Christopher Nakia Davis

It is often said that legacy is what we leave behind. For Christopher Nakia Davis, legacy is also what was handed to him carefully, intentionally and across generations. In Iva, S.C., where roots run deep and community ties matter, Davis’ life tells a story not just of personal success, but of stewardship — of name, profession, faith, education and service passed down and lived forward.

Even his name carries history. Davis’ middle name, Nakia — the name he has always gone by — was inspired by a television western his mother loved while pregnant with him. What began as a thoughtful choice became an identity that would come to symbolize continuity and character. Much like his name, Davis’ path in life would follow a lineage shaped by purpose and example.

Born and raised in Iva, a town of fewer than 2,000 people, Davis grew up in a place defined by simplicity, shared responsibility and an unmistakable sense of family.

“Everybody knows each other,” he said. “It’s like one big family. Growing up in a small community gives you a chance to serve and grow where everyone pitches in to make things happen.”

From the fire department to youth sports and school mentoring programs, Davis learned early how strong communities are built by people who show up. The lesson continues to guide him today through his service as president of the Iva Recreation Association, where more than 1,000 children are served annually, his role as assistant golf coach at the local high school and even pulling the chains on Friday nights on the same football field where he once played more than three decades ago.

Davis is a third-generation community banker, a calling he recognized before he was 10 years old. His grandfather served as president of a local community bank for more than 40 years.

“I still remember going by his office and sitting in his chair behind his desk, using the typewriter,” Davis said. “I told him I wanted to be a banker like him.”

This childhood aspiration became reality and responsibility. Davis now serves as president and CEO of The Commercial Bank, an institution founded more than 90 years ago during the Great Depression, when banks across the country were closing their doors.

“Nothing is more rewarding than knowing you were able to help someone buy their first car, their first home or simply help them make a financial decision that ultimately affects them for the rest of their life,” Davis said.

He often draws parallels between banking and school board service. Both, he said, are forms of community stewardship — roles that require trust, accountability and a servant’s heart.

Service to public education also runs deep in Davis’ family. His grandfather, father and uncle all served on local school boards in Anderson County. When his uncle chose not to seek re-election to the Anderson County Board of Education, he encouraged Davis to run for his seat.

“It just seemed like the right thing to do,” Davis said.

Serving the same district which educated him, his wife and their three daughters gives his role deeper meaning. Today, his wife and eldest daughter teach in Anderson School District Three, and his youngest daughter hopes to do the same after graduating from Anderson University (AU).

“When I look at what public education in a small town has done for my family,” he said, “it makes me want to give back and make sure the next generation has even better opportunities.”

AU holds a special place in Davis’ life and legacy. His grandmother received a degree there and served on the university’s Board of Visitors, and Davis himself completed his degree there while working full-time at the bank. Davis is now serving his fourth term on the AU Board of Trust. One daughter has already graduated from AU, and another is on track to graduate in 2027.

The university’s faith-based environment and close-knit community left a lasting impression, especially during one of the most challenging moments of his life. While completing his senior project, Davis’ first daughter was born nine weeks early and spent nearly two weeks in the neonatal intensive care unit. Classmates held study sessions in hospital waiting rooms, and professors checked in personally.

“It made a lifelong impression on me and makes me strive to give with a servant’s heart,” Davis said.

Faith is the foundation upon which Davis orders his family. It remains his greatest joy. Married to his high school sweetheart, Brooke, for more than 26 years, Davis is the father of three accomplished daughters. Coaching them through their youth sports years remains one of his most treasured roles.

When asked how he hopes to be remembered, Davis does not list titles or accomplishments. Instead, he returns to service.

“I hope they say he was hard-working and dedicated,” he said. “But the most important words I hope to hear one day are, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant.’”

1 Dec 2025

br0zNynn3 Board Member Spotlight

A Legacy in Full Harvest: How Williamsburg’s Burgess Became a Modern Renaissance Man

Williamsburg County School District Board of Trustees District 2 Representative Mack Jacobi Burgess

A Renaissance Man is often described as someone accomplished across multiple disciplines, a person whose curiosity, expertise and service stretch well beyond a single field. Few fit this description more fully than Mack Jacobi Burgess, the District 2 representative on the Williamsburg County School District Board of Trustees. He is a lifelong educator, decorated veteran, coach, principal, mentor and community pillar whose life reflects service, scholarship and deep devotion to the people who shaped him.

Burgess grew up in a family rooted in education. He and his four brothers were raised by parents who spent more than 40 years working in Williamsburg County Schools. Their influence set the tone for everything he would become.

“Education is the backbone of my family,” Burgess said. “My parents were strict but supportive, and they made it clear failure was not an option.”

His early years in Cades, a small community in northern Williamsburg County, doubled as lessons in responsibility and service. The family farm served as both classroom and character forge. His father raised cows, planted cucumbers, soybeans, corn and watermelons, and tended a garden large enough to feed the wider community.

“He grew just about every vegetable you can think of and shared it with our neighborhood and many of his colleagues,” Burgess said.

Cades shaped him, but Nesmith later became his spiritual and relational anchor. The rural community, his mother’s birthplace, became his home after he inherited the land she cherished.

“Nesmith means a lot to me because of the strong sense of community and the incredible hunting land full of deer and turkey,” he said. “People look out for one another, and that’s why I chose to settle here.”

As the middle child among five boys, Burgess grew up with examples of academic excellence. Four brothers earned degrees in elementary education and one in mass communications. All pursued graduate studies. One became a doctoral-level leader in higher education with service at institutions including St. Augustine’s University and Florida A&M University. Expectations were clear: earn degrees, return home, serve others.

Burgess followed the same path. After graduating from South Carolina State University in 1999 with a degree in elementary education, he began a career that quickly grew beyond the classroom. At W.M. Anderson Primary in Kingstree, he taught second grade and coached baseball, football and basketball, blending academics with mentorship.

He recalls one student on homebound instruction due to kidney complications, a child he taught to read, to solve math problems and to set goals. The boy later became the honorary baseball manager at Kingstree High School and now owns a trucking company.

“Moments like that showed me my calling was not just on the baseball field but in shaping lives through education,” Burgess said.

He pursued advanced degrees, earning a master’s in educational administration and an Ed.S. in educational leadership. In 2006, he became an assistant principal and, 12 years later, principal of McDonald Elementary School, a role he calls one of his greatest blessings.

Burgess also served eight years in the S.C. Army National Guard, achieving the rank of E-4 Specialist before receiving an honorable discharge.

His greatest mentor, he said, was his father, Mack H. Burgess Sr., a teacher, coach, administrator, firefighter, church leader and philanthropist. His influence echoes in every lesson Burgess passes to students.

“He taught me to treat people the way I wanted to be treated,” Burgess said. “He always reminded me to show respect by saying ‘yes ma’am’ and ‘yes sir’ because you must give respect to receive it.”

His mother, Janie, who was an English teacher, shaped him through her love of literature and belief in lifelong learning.

Among Burgess’s signature contributions is “Dress for Success,” an initiative grounded in the belief that presentation reflects discipline, confidence and pride. Inspired by his father’s expectations and his own standards as a student teacher, he launched Tie Tuesday, Guys With Ties and Girls With Pearls. Support has come from around the world, turning one boy’s question about “church clothes” into a movement that reshaped campus culture at McDonald Elementary.

In 2021, Burgess was elected to the Williamsburg County School Board seat previously held by the late Gladys Dorsey. Before running, he sought blessings from both his family and the Dorsey family, a reflection of the respect that guides his leadership.

He views his dual service in Williamsburg County as trustee and Georgetown County as principal as a calling anchored in faith and supported by family. His wife, Elneicia, is a school nurse in Williamsburg County Schools. Their children — Trey, Tristen and Mackenzie — remain central to his work. His daughter has attended school with him for five years. His son now attends his alma mater, South Carolina State University.

From soldier to scholar, principal to board member, coach to mentor, and son of educators to father of future leaders, Burgess stands as a modern Renaissance Man. His life reflects mastery across roles, service across decades and leadership across communities.

1 Nov 2025

br0zNynn3 Board Member Spotlight

Richland One’s Clyburn: The Making of a Public Servant

Richland School District One board member Angela Clyburn

In a quiet stretch of north Columbia stands a neighborhood that has shaped leaders, nurtured families and defined what it means to serve others. Greenview is a community born from the postwar promise of the GI Bill — a place built by veterans and visionaries, educators and public servants — where the American ideal of opportunity was not just imagined but lived.

Since its founding in the late 1940s, Greenview has been more than a neighborhood; it has been a blueprint for collective care. Families didn’t just move there — they belonged there. Among its early residents were people whose impact would echo far beyond their streets. There was a University of South Carolina alumna who earned a master’s degree in library science and spent nearly 40 years directing instructional technology for Richland One. There was a martial arts legend who opened his karate school and after-school care center to give back to the community that raised him. There was a civil rights attorney who moved back to care for her mother, who still lived in Greenview. And there were James and Emily Clyburn, who raised their children — including future leaders Mignon, Jennifer and Angela — in a home anchored by faith, education and service.

“I grew up in Greenview surrounded by people who cared deeply for one another,” said Angela Clyburn, now a second-term board member for Richland School District One and senior adviser for Care in Action. “My parents raised me and my siblings with a deep commitment to service, education and justice. Even as a child, I saw firsthand what it meant to care for your neighbors, to show up when it matters and to work for something larger than yourself.”

For Angela, Greenview was a living classroom.

“It wasn’t just our neighborhood — it was our extended family,” she said. “Whether it was volunteering at local events, checking in on elderly neighbors or cleaning up the park, my parents taught us that leadership starts with showing up and giving back.”

Her father often reminded her that real strength comes from serving others quietly and consistently, while her mother, Dr. Emily Clyburn, modeled compassion through action — the first to lend a hand, the last to seek credit.

When Dr. Emily Clyburn died in 2019, Angela found herself called to honor her mother’s legacy in a deeper way.

“Her passing pushed me to act,” Angela said. “In 2020, I ran for the Richland One school board, a role that allowed me to give back to the same schools and neighborhoods that shaped me.”

Her mother’s influence — a blend of compassion and conviction — became the foundation of Angela’s leadership philosophy. In 2022, she expanded her reach nationally as senior adviser with the National Domestic Workers Alliance, where she advocates for domestic workers and caregivers — most of whom are women of color doing essential, yet too often invisible, labor.

“That work is personal,” Angela said. “It reflects the values instilled in me from Greenview — dignity, equity and lifting up those whose voices are often left out.”

As the daughter of U.S. Rep. James E. Clyburn, Angela grew up observing leadership not as authority but as responsibility.

“What stands out most about my father is how he handles disagreement — by listening first, understanding where others are coming from and then responding thoughtfully to find common ground,” she said. “That approach shapes how I see civic responsibility. It’s not about representing people who agree with you; it’s about serving everyone.”

Angela carries this philosophy into every space she enters — from boardrooms to classrooms to community centers. Her previous work with Wateree Community Actions Inc., which helps low-income families, directly connects to her belief that equity in education begins with meeting families’ basic needs.

“If a child lives in a home without water or electricity, that’s not just a home issue — it’s a classroom issue,” she said. “Strong families build strong students, and strong students build strong communities.”

Today, Angela is raising her own children in the same schools she attended.

“I want them to know they come from a community that believes in them,” she said. “By staying rooted here, I’m showing that I believe in Richland One, in our teachers and in our future.”

Her message to other parents is simple but powerful: Schools thrive when communities engage.

“When we participate — by volunteering, attending events and supporting one another — we don’t just lift our own children; we strengthen the entire community.”

Asked what legacy she hopes to leave, Angela said she wants to be remembered as someone who led with empathy, listened with intention and made decisions rooted in equity and care.

“I want people to say I showed up for students, for families, for the community — and that I never lost sight of who I was serving,” she said.

Her journey from the tree-lined streets of Greenview to the halls of leadership is living proof that community creates likeness born not of position but of purpose — not of proximity but of shared values — which don’t just shape lives but shape leaders.

1 Oct 2025

br0zNynn3 Board Member Spotlight

Orangeburg’s Dr. O’Quinn: The Medicine Man

Orangeburg County School Board member Dr. William E. O’Quinn

The longest actively serving school board member in the state

Before Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman ever stepped onto television screens as a frontier doctor defying convention, Branchville’s own Dr. William E. O’Quinn was already practicing a similar brand of medicine, bridging science with compassion, tending both bodies and communities and earning the trust of generations.

For more than five decades, he has been a steady presence in Branchville, where families often grow up under the care of the same doctor. O’Quinn has devoted his life to medicine, education and public service, bringing care, dignity and resilience to a rural South Carolina town which leans on him as much as Colorado Springs leaned on its beloved TV doctor.

“It is an honor and privilege to be able to serve my community for this length of time,” O’Quinn said. “I have a sense of satisfaction for doing this. I have seen several generations over the years and have enjoyed it.”

O’Quinn’s decision to pursue medicine came during his teenage years.
“I decided around the early high school years that I wanted to be a physician,” he said. “I was especially encouraged by an aunt of mine and also had ties to a family physician that was a friend of the family that took care of me as a child and teenager.”

O’Quinn credits his parents for instilling values which carried him through medical school and into community leadership.

“My mother had worked but was basically a stay-at-home mom. My father was dedicated to his work, and I learned my work ethics from him,” he said. “They both basically said I could follow any profession I desired. I chose medicine.”

Since 1975, O’Quinn has cared for Branchville families, offering continuity rare in modern health care. Alongside daily patient care, he has mentored physician assistants, nurse practitioners and medical students.

“I have seen how important it is to help shape future physicians into the role of a family physician,” said O’Quinn. “The tools and technologies we use to practice medicine have changed over the years but the way that we actually care for patients does not need to change. We need to have compassion for our patients and their families.”

His leadership has extended to medical organizations, including serving as president of the S.C. Academy of Family Physicians and as a board chair.

O’Quinn’s civic service began in 1981, when he successfully ran as a write-in candidate for the local school board in Orangeburg. His children were attending the same schools he once did, and he saw an opportunity to give back.

“I was encouraged by several to run and did so as a write-in candidate and was successful,” said O’Quinn. “I was not dissatisfied with the board, I just felt I could help.”

He has remained on the board through multiple consolidations, becoming the state’s longest-serving active trustee.

His fellow board members said, during the COVID-19 pandemic, his medical training proved invaluable.

“I was able to help explain things to other board members and administration when needed,” said O’Quinn.

Colleagues describe O’Quinn as genuine and steady, qualities he sees as an extension of his philosophy of service.

“I think it just proves that I try to follow the same path – students and teachers first,” O’Quinn said. “I do try to make my voice heard, but I am willing to listen to other ideas. I have always tried to work with others to resolve our problems. I try to bring (them) all together when possible.”

As for Branchville, it is more than O’Quinn’s workplace. It is home. He and his wife, both graduates of local schools, built their lives together there.

“She actually taught 4K until she retired so I had an educator at home at all times,” O’Quinn said. “Of course, all three children finished here and went on to college and graduate schools.”

Two became educators initially and one a physician. One of the original educators then decided to become a pharmacist. He takes pride in knowing two of his children returned so their children could attend the same community schools.

Over the years, O’Quinn has witnessed change in Branchville, from the decline of Main Street shops to the resilience of its community school.

“But the town is more than just stores. It is the people and the way they interact,” said O’Quinn. “It is a feeling of community. That has not changed.”

His hope is Branchville’s civic and educational traditions endure.

“We may not have the offerings of a large school, but with distance learning and other opportunities our students seem to do very well,” said O’Quinn. “I hope we continue to do so.”

1 Sep 2025

br0zNynn3 Board Member Spotlight

Bamberg’s Eckels: The Total Package

Bamberg County School District Board of Trustees vice chair Naomi Echols

A woman who moves with both a blueprint and a brushstroke

From metro Atlanta’s swirl of cultures to the grounded soil of her grandparents’ Bamberg farm, Naomi Eckels has always stood at the intersection of opposites and thrived. As vice chair of the Bamberg County School District Board of Trustees, she embodies a rare and vital blend of disciplined structure and compassionate advocacy. A logistician by training and a campaigner at heart, Eckels is a woman who strategizes with precision and dreams with boldness. Whether in the boardroom, the workplace or her blossoming backyard garden, Eckels brings the totality of her lived experience to every role she holds.

Though born in Atlanta, Eckels’ soul was shaped just as much by summers in Bamberg, S.C., under the gentle yet firm hands of her grandparents, John and Sally Mae Haynes.

“I come from a stock rooted in strength and resilience,” she said, citing her family as her first role models and compass.

From her mother’s insistence to “read anything with words on it,” to her grandparents’ lived reverence for education despite its inaccessibility in their time, Eckels’ personal narrative treats learning as a sacred inheritance.

There is a clear logistician’s streak to Eckels. With a B.S. in computer information science from Spelman and an MBA in global management, she is fluent in the language of systems. Her 13-plus years in information technology and her current role as a relationship manager have sharpened her skills in accountability, planning and strategic execution.

“I believe in doing everything to the best of my ability and always following through with what I say I am going to do,” she said.

But just beneath this structure lives a campaigner’s soul or a heart which seeks connection, possibility and joy. Eckels is a community builder, volunteer, coach and cultivator of young minds. Whether she’s leading a basketball team, nurturing seedlings on her family’s farm or mentoring a student toward purpose, she leads with a philosophy grounded in faith and generosity.

“I strongly believe in the power of education, and that every child deserves the right to receive the best education we can provide for them,” said Eckels. “I wanted to ensure that I made my best effort to fight for the children in my community to have access and opportunity for a bright future.”

Ask Eckels what keeps her centered, and her answer is unwavering. It is her faith.

“My spiritual connection has always grounded me,” she said, referencing a belief in divine timing and purpose which allows her to meet challenges with grace rather than fear.

This mindset was forged, in part, during one of the most trying periods of her life, when her son was born prematurely while she was working out of state.

“I had to grow in ways that I never imagined because I had someone who had no choice but to depend on me,” she said. “It taught me that our greatest challenges are often our greatest blessings.”

One challenge she has vowed to face is being a voice for the voiceless, especially children whose futures are often decided in rooms they don’t sit in. Her decision to run for the school board was not driven by politics, but by purpose.

“Their (parents and grandparents) steadfast commitment to learning helped me to develop a love and thirst for education, and the undeniable gift that you receive by sharing knowledge with others,” said Eckels. “I was always taught that service to others just comes with the responsibility we have as humans to participate in this life. The core value to care for and love the people around you.”

Eckels doesn’t take her title as vice chair lightly. For her, it’s a platform to ensure collaboration between educators, families and communities so the decisions reflect the lived realities of those they affect. In her world, policies are people-centered, and vision is never divorced from empathy.

Her current personal joy? Gardening. Her grandparents’ land, once farmed out of necessity, is now being revived with both tradition and innovation.

“It is a genuine thrill to learn the science of how each plant thrives,” she said. “… and to feel connected to my elders who lived and farmed the same land.”

It’s no small metaphor. Eckels is not just planting vegetables. She’s nurturing legacies in her children, her colleagues and her community.

When asked what her ideal day looks like, she said, “Relaxing in nature…whether it be a garden, at the beach or a simple walk in the park.”

Even in rest, her life speaks.

Eckels’ journey serves as a reminder one can lead structured and spontaneous, serious and soft, grounded and growing lives all at once. In a world which often demands we choose between logic and love, Eckels chooses both. And then she shows how to lead with both, too.

1 Aug 2025

br0zNynn3 Board Member Spotlight

Pickens’ Garrisons: Quietly and Wholeheartedly the Order of the Palmetto

School District of Pickens County Board of Trustee member Betty Garrison

We’ve all heard the familiar refrain, “May I take your order?” or “How may I assist you?” In a restaurant or a retail store, it’s routine. But for some, these questions are more than a polite inquiry. It’s a way of life. For the School District of Pickens County Board of Trustee member Betty Garrison and her husband, Jim, servant leadership has always been the quiet, driving force behind decades of work in education, community service and family life. And now, that lifelong commitment has been honored with South Carolina’s highest civilian award – The Order of the Palmetto.

Last month, inside the Cpt. Kimberly Hampton Memorial Library in Easley, surrounded by family, community members and former students, the Garrisons received this prestigious recognition. Their response? Characteristically humble.

“We’ve never done anything for the sake of recognition,” said Betty. “But if our story inspires others to serve quietly and wholeheartedly, to look around and ask, ‘How can I help?’ then we are grateful.”

Betty’s 40-plus-year career in public education is a tapestry of purpose and people. She began as a home economics teacher at Easley High School, moved into roles as a guidance counselor, assistant principal and principal and ultimately brought her experience to the school board, where she’s served as a trustee since 2016.

“Each chapter of my career, from classroom teacher to principal to board trustee, was shaped by mentors who believed in me,” she said.

If Betty’s life has been shaped by education, Jim’s has been equally anchored in craftsmanship, teaching and heartfelt vision. A U.S. Army Reserve veteran, land planner, builder and later a teacher of building construction at the SDPC Career & Technology Center, Jim’s motto has always been, “If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing right.”

This principle guided one of the couple’s most meaningful projects: the creation of the Cpt. Kimberly Hampton Memorial Park. Located beside the Easley library, the park honors a 1994 Easley High graduate and U.S. Army pilot who was the first female pilot in American history to lose her life in combat. Hampton was killed in Iraq in 2004 when her helicopter was shot down.

After years of persistence, including collaboration with the military and securing a helicopter from Fort Rucker, where Hampton trained, the park was dedicated in 2020. Operation Dragonfly, as it became known, now stands as a powerful symbol of courage, service and community remembrance.
Married for 53 years this August, the Garrisons have long been guided by shared values of persistence, integrity and responsibility.

Their sons, Brad and Brian, along with their wives Julie and Crystal, have followed suit, raising their own children, Caden and Walker, with the same foundation.

“They’ve impacted so many, not just through official titles or roles, but through acts of quiet service,” Brad said. “From salvaging a gym floor to baking pound cakes, to helping someone get a second chance, they always found ways to say, ‘How can I help?’”

Betty has brought her firsthand knowledge of what students and teachers truly need – consistency, structure and adults who genuinely care.
Under her tenure, she’s seen transformative changes at nearly every level of public education in her district.

“While curriculum and standards change, students still need to be known, supported and believed in,” she said. “That will never change.”
When asked what her “superpower” is, Betty resists the idea. “I’ve simply been surrounded by people who care deeply about students. Any impact I’ve had is because of those teams.”

Her leadership has always been reflected in small, often unseen acts, including delivering meals to families, mentoring new administrators, supporting students in crisis and quietly helping wherever there’s a need.

Faith has also been central to their lives. Their son Brian opened the award ceremony with a prayer thanking God not for the award itself, but for lives lived in alignment with purpose and grace.

“Hopefully, one day, that makes people ask why,” he said. “And ultimately, maybe that points them to Jesus.”

State Representative Neal Collins, who nominated the Garrisons for the Order of the Palmetto, described them simply, “They are icons.”

He noted how rare it is for this honor to be awarded. In his words, “We’ll never fully know how many lives they’ve impacted. And that’s exactly how they would want it.”

Easley’s welcome sign reads, “The pride shows.”

For the Garrisons, pride isn’t about recognition. It’s about people. It’s about showing up. It’s about answering life’s most powerful question of, “How can I help?”, quietly, consistently and with a full heart.

1 Jul 2025

br0zNynn3 Board Member Spotlight

Amanda Taylor Faircloth: Serving Where She was Nurtured and Needed

Amanda Taylor Faircloth, vice chairperson of the Dillon School District Four Board of Trustees

Amanda Taylor Faircloth, vice chairperson of the Dillon School District Four Board of Trustees, hails from Dillon County, South Carolina — best known to passersby for the quirky, roadside attraction South of the Border. But for Faircloth, Dillon is more than a landmark on the I-95 corridor. It’s home and the foundation of her life’s work in education, banking and service.

Faircloth’s reflections on public education are grounded in both personal experience and broader community need. While Dillon County has drawn national attention for its educational funding disparities, Faircloth views her upbringing there with pride and gratitude.

“Dillon school district prepared me well,” she said. “We’ve always had teachers who genuinely care — not just about our grades, but about who we become.”

She was raised in the Tall Pines community near Hamer and now lives in Dillon proper. It’s a place where deep roots and close relationships form the backbone of everyday life.

“Dillon is a small town where everyone knows everyone, or at least someone in your family,” said Faircloth. “It’s a community that comes together in times of need.”

One of those needs brought Faircloth to the school board in 2019. Her mother, Ethel Taylor, had served on the board for 25 years. When Ethel passed away, the community knew exactly who should continue her legacy.

“I was hesitant at first,” Faircloth recalled. “But after praying and talking with my family, I realized what an honor it was, not just to serve, but to carry on her legacy and advocate for the children of Dillon County.”

Since joining the board, she’s led with a focus on student needs and equity, guided by her core belief that leadership means doing what’s best for all children.

“Always be respectful of others’ opinions,” she advises those seeking public office. “But be steadfast in your beliefs and focused on what matters most — the betterment of every child.”

Faircloth’s path of community service isn’t confined to education. Her banking career began by chance when someone at a bank asked if she knew anyone looking for a job. Two weeks later, she was behind the counter as a teller. Over 27 years, she’s moved through roles from personal banker to business and commercial support specialist and now serves as a financial services representative at First Citizens Bank.

“Early in life, I thought I’d become a teacher,” she said. “But the Lord had other plans.”

What’s kept her in banking isn’t the numbers. It’s the people.

“I’ve built relationships with customers who’ve become friends and family,” she said. “I’ve watched their children grow up and now I’m their banker too. That’s special.”

Helping customers find financial peace, whether solving a problem, recovering from fraud or just offering a listening ear, is deeply fulfilling for her.

Her Christian faith, she said, shapes how she serves both customers and students.

“My faith helps me be patient and kind and treat others with empathy,” Faircloth said. “Whether I’m working with a student, a parent or a customer, I always ask, ‘If this were my child or my parent, how would I want them to be treated?’”

This perspective grounds her, especially when she encounters a difficult customer or a tough board decision.

“Sometimes I question if I’m where I need to be,” she admitted. “But then someone will say, ‘I don’t know what I’d do without you,’ and I remember this is where I’m meant to be.”

And where she’s meant to be is also with her husband, Bobby — a retired South Carolina Highway Patrol trooper — and their three adult daughters: Taylor (Allen) of Lexington, Ceason (Jonah) of Ohio and Carrie and her fiancé, Avery, of Florence.

“Visiting with our kids and seeing them happy and successful, that’s what gives me joy and peace,” she said.

She and Bobby are also traveling the state, checking off stops on their journey to become “Ultimate Outsiders” — a designation for those who visit all South Carolina state parks.

“It’s a great way to be active and appreciate the beauty of our state,” she said.

But no matter where their travels take them, the Faircloths always make it back to Dillon – to their roots.

1 May 2025

br0zNynn3 Board Member Spotlight

Dorchester Two’s Farnsworth: Principles and Vested Interest

Dorchester School District Two Board of Trustees member Justin Farnsworth

In the heart of Summerville, S.C., there’s a business owner whose name is synonymous with trust, leadership and community service – Justin Farnsworth, a member of the Dorchester School District Two Board of Trustees. Not just a leader in business but a devoted advocate for education and a strong proponent of civic engagement, Farnsworth’s journey from military service to entrepreneurship is a testament to the power of personal investment in the future of others.

His story begins in a place where few would expect to find entrepreneurial roots – the U.S. Navy. Serving as a nuclear engineer aboard the USS Harry S. Truman, his responsibilities ranged from managing complex nuclear propulsion systems to training the next generation of engineers.

“This experience in the Navy not only shaped my approach to leadership and problem-solving but also instilled a strong sense of discipline and dedication that I have carried into my civilian and business life,” said Farnsworth.

He then transitioned into the world of finance, working as a Wealth Advisor and Investment Officer at First Citizens Bank. His experience in financial planning allowed him to see firsthand how important it was for individuals and families to secure their futures.

This led to him owning The Farnsworth Family Agency, an Allstate Insurance affiliate in Summerville, which he opened in Oct. 2020. Under his leadership, the agency quickly became #1 in the state of South Carolina, providing personalized insurance solutions to the community.

Farnsworth’s commitment to his customers extends beyond financial transactions; it’s about creating peace of mind, ensuring families feel secure enough to live their lives to the fullest.

“Starting a business is about more than just selling a product or service,” he said. “It’s about creating a legacy and building something that serves the community. A business is a vehicle for making a positive impact.”

Farnsworth’s dedication to service is not confined to his business. Since 2014, he has served on the Dorchester Two board, where he is an advocate for quality education. As a parent himself, he saw firsthand how crucial it is to provide students with an environment which nurtures their academic and personal growth.

“I believe education is the cornerstone of success,” said Farnsworth. “I want to be part of a system which not only prepares our students for the challenges of tomorrow but helps them grow as individuals with the skills and confidence to succeed.”

One of the most significant shifts he has experienced during his time on the board has been the transition to a single-member district system. While it promises more localized representation, it also presents new challenges, particularly around ensuring equitable resource distribution. Farnsworth is committed to navigating these challenges, always with the goal of strengthening the educational experiences of all students in the district.

Farnsworth is also deeply involved in the community, recognizing relationships are the foundation of lasting positive change. Through collaborations with local non-profits and other community organizations, he’s helped improve both the well-being of local families and the vitality of Summerville itself.

His wife, Jessica, who serves as the assistant director of Elementary Education for Dorchester Two, also plays a key role in shaping Farnsworth’s views on education and leadership.

“Jessica’s work provides me with a unique insight into the challenges faced by our schools, especially in terms of curriculum development and staff training,” he said.

Her expertise complements his, allowing him to advocate for policies which not only address the needs of students but also support the educators who guide them.

Together, Farnsworth and his wife are raising two children who continue to excel in both academics and extracurriculars. Blake is studying agricultural business at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College and Zoe, is a dedicated public high school student recently inducted into the National Honor Society.

In his view, public education is a cornerstone of a thriving family and community.

“Public schools are not just about preparing students for college or careers, they’re about shaping the future of our society. Everyone benefits from an educated community,” he said.

Even those without children in public schools, he argues, have a vested interest in supporting them, as strong schools contribute to lower crime rates, higher employment and overall economic stability.

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