Crockett ISD School Board President and a Passion for Education
By Greg Ritchie
Messenger Reporter
CROCKETT – One of the unsung heroes of the growth in Crockett schools has to be Crockett Independent School District (CISD) Board of Trustees President Dr. John Garner.
Garner is a Crockett native, or as he puts it, “I am what they call a ‘B.I.C.’ – born in Crockett! I grew up here and graduated from high school here.”
After finishing college at Sam Houston State University, Garner went on to become a dentist. He suffered from bad teeth as a young man and wanted to learn more about dentistry in general.
After opening his own dental practice in Crockett, Garner was called upon to put his passion for education to good use.
“I had always been interested in education,” Garner said. “My mother was a school teacher for 31 years. My wife has a Bachelor’s and Master’s in Education. She taught for a while. I have three brothers – all three of us married schoolteachers. I have two nieces that are schoolteachers. I have been involved education for a long time – from a distance – but after our children graduated I was asked by people to consider a run for the school board. I eventually decided maybe it is my time to do some service.”
Garner has spoken very publicly about those who teach – and those who go further and truly educate the children. He likens it to those that run out of a blazing building and those firefighters running in. Garner said part of the problem is the attitude towards public schools in general.
“I would like to think I am helping to revitalize and re-energize the school. One thing that did concern me was how schools – public schools – are viewed with disdain or looked down upon in some people’s eyes. And yet, I know that is the major educational vehicle for our community,” Garner noted.
Garner sees the role of the CISD as not only beneficial to the students and their futures – but important to the community as a whole.
“We always want to talk about economic development,” Garner said. “But one of the major components of that is a good, stable school system. I was concerned if an industry or business was considering coming here – they will look on the websites, they will check out statistics, look at the schools or look at the hospitals, the tax rates – they will look at the workforce.”
“They will look at Crockett ISD – maybe without knowing about the other four schools in our county,” Garner continued. “We are the county seat – the flagship district of the county. Without a good strong presence and without a good strong school system neither Crockett nor the county can grow.”
Garner does not suffer fools or those without passion lightly – and has helped CISD implement programs that give passionate educators more tools to shepherd the kids into adulthood.
“You have to have everybody with a ‘can-do’, instead of a ‘let’s just do’ attitude. We have teachers who are really professionals that are trying to teach the children that we are blessed with and doing a remarkably good job in the face of adversity and naysayers. It’s very much in the best interest of everybody to have a good school system. We have implemented some new programs this year with our master teachers and mentors that are so important to our kids.”
Garner spoke with the Messenger shortly before Friday night’s induction ceremony of the Ring of Honor inductees. He said many were surprised to know that longtime coach and namesake of the CISD football stadium Monte Jack Driskell had never been named to the Ring of Honor.
“We are very blessed for the honorees. I have a history with all of them and appreciate them all very much. Of course the one that most people will be surprised at is Coach Monte Jack Driskell. For whatever reason – I do not know what happened – but everybody just assumed he was in there. He should be in the there and we are excited to have him there.”
Although Garner’s own children are now adults, their history with Crockett schools and his own still guides him to do what he can to make CISD ever greater.
“All of our children – all three of our children graduated from Crockett. I have a lot of heart for it. And I know it is vital for the growth of this community for Crockett ISD to do well.”
Greg Ritchie can be reached at [email protected]
