O’Dell Urges Franklin Co. School System To Keep Moving Forward

By MJ Kneiser, WLHR Radio, Lavonia

Franklin County School Superintendent Dr. Ruth O’Dell is encouraging teachers, staff and parents not to let the momentum of what has been achieved over the past nine years stop.

In her final presentation to the Franklin County Chamber of Commerce Tuesday, O’Dell stepped away from her usual presentation outlining goals and statistics and instead focused on issues she believes the system needs to continue to address after she retires.

O’Dell focused on four main issues she believes are facing the school system and parents going forward.

They include Urgency versus Complacency, Unity versus Tribalism, Love versus Indifference, and Courageous Leadership versus Don’t Rock the Boat.

Under urgency versus complacency, O’Dell said it would be easy to become satisfied with the current 91.6 percent graduation rate, but she said the new goal should be to continue to encourage students to move on to some kind of post-secondary education.

“Only 50% of those who graduate will go on to post-secondary educational opportunities,” she said. “And to really be competitive in whatever path or career they choose, they’ve got to have training after they’ve completed high school. And then once they arrive at a college or technical school, they need to graduate from that.”

O’Dell said teachers need to continue to focus on reading and language arts skills now in order to help prepare students for college or technical school classes.

Under the topic of courageous leadership, O’Dell exhorted those in attendance to not be afraid to think outside the box and take bold steps to keep the school system moving in the right direction.

“So Franklin County, keep a sense of urgency about continuous improvement. There’s always more that can be done that our kids deserve if we constantly look for ways to open more doors, more windows to let in opportunities for them,” O’Dell said.

O’Dell then addressed the importance of a unified community versus a tribal mindset.

“There’s all sorts of reasons in Franklin County to divide ourselves,” she said. “Put the needs of our tribe over the needs of the whole; athletics vs the arts, FFA vs athletics, parents vs teachers, black vs brown vs white. Every single time that happens, we lose; every single time. If you really do care, do not allow our kids to be sacrificed on the mantel of tribalism.”

Finally, Dr. O’Dell said love is the most important aspect of education of children and encouraged the entire community to find ways to meet the needs of children who are in most need of help.

O’Dell said now is not the time to stop, but a time to continue to improve efforts as a community to help Franklin County students become all that they can be.