Four Haywood County School Board seats are up for election this fall, and half are running unopposed.
The two incumbents running unopposed – Steven Kirkpatrick, representing Fine’s Creek, and Jimmy Rogers, representing Clyde – have both served in the school for at least 20 years.
One incumbent – Larry Henson, representing the Bethel District – has a challenger: Mike Graham, retired owner of Jukebox Junction.
And the final seat, representing the Crabtree-Iron Duff district, is an open race pitting two newcomers and the only candidates – Brooke Guge Haynes and Marla Morris – against each other after incumbent Bobby Rogers chose to not get re-elected.
Larry Henson, Bethel District
Organic : Henson, 59, is the owner of Henson Tree Service. He graduated from Pisgah. He attends Bible Baptist Church in Waynesville. Henson has served on the school board for 12 years and sits on the finance committee.
Henson has four grandchildren in Haywood County Schools, and they are his inspiration to race again.
“I want to try to provide the best education possible for all the children in Haywood County,” he said.
Henson served on the school board through all of the August 2021 flooding and subsequent reconstruction in Haywood County. Following the process to the end is one of its main objectives.
“I want to try to finish everything related to the floods and restore some normalcy to the school system, not only because of the floods but also because of COVID.”
In 2018, Henson won the election without a challenger, but will have a challenger this year in newcomer Mike Graham.
Mike Graham, Bethel District
Organic : Graham, 63, is retired but is the former owner of the Jukebox Junction restaurant. He is originally from Connecticut, but worked at Denny’s restaurants in Florida, working his way up to district training manager and convenience store. After Denny’s, he worked in central Florida school systems implementing culinary arts training programs there, before moving to Bethel where his in-laws lived.
Graham would seek to be a catalyst for change within the school board by contributing his ideas.
On his opponent: “Larry [Henson]’s a very popular person and has done a lot. His family often come to my restaurant,” noting that his decision to run against Henson was more about publicizing his own ideas. “It’s nothing against him. For what reason [the school board] had to go through, I think they did a terrific job,” he said.
Graham has spent his career in hospitality and recognizes how lucrative training the next generation can be, both for the county and for the children.
“Tourism is probably Haywood County’s biggest industry, and it’s out-of-state/county money. We need an infrastructure to attract new workers to guide people into hospitality jobs,” he said, noting that many of his employees at Jukebox Junction were high school students.
He would like to see money invested in school hospitality schemes, adding that hospitality jobs are now very lucrative.
“My son’s fiancée is a waitress at a restaurant in Waynesville and she made over $80,000 last year, so don’t tell me these are dead ends jobs,” Graham said.
He would also like to see a board member serve on the TDA board, which he would be willing to do if elected.
Graham also noted that he wants to make school improvement plans more effective and visible, as well as adding additional highly trained school psychologists and guidance counselors as goals, if elected.
Jimmy Rogers, District of Clyde
Organic : Rogers, 62, is a farm equipment salesman and independent sales representative for farm equipment manufacturers. He graduated from Pisgah and attended Campbell University and Appalachian State University. He is heavily involved in his church, Canton First Baptist, where he is a former deacon, as well as a mason at Masonic Lodge, a member of the Clyde Planning Board, worked with the Future Farmers of America in county schools and is a member of the Haywood Cattleman’s Association. Rogers has served on the school board for 22 years, serving on the Policy and Buildings and Grounds Committees.
Rogers feels that many issues related to the COVID pandemic are still unresolved, and he wants to be part of resolving this issue.
“There are so many situations going on right now. There are many issues like safety, health and welfare that we can continue to work on. Our school system has done a wonderful job and I would love to be part of the process to give our children the best education possible. We want to be the best in the state. I feel like I have more to offer to help our education system in Haywood County,” he said.
Rogers said his overriding goal is to continue working toward the best normalcy they can provide for schools and to help the school system continue to improve each year.
“To hire and retain the best teachers we can, which our administration does a great job of,” he added.
Rogers said his experience will help him.
“With all of these changes, the experience of being a board member will help us as we continue to have to work with local county commissioners on what we can do to improve our communities and bring families to this county” , did he declare.
In 2018, Rogers took on challenger Jonathan Rowland, winning 12,910 votes to Rowland’s 5,468 votes.
Brooke Guge Haynes, Crabtree District/Iron Duff
Organic : Haynes, 44, is a full-time mother of three, a cheer coach for Waynesville Middle and a substitute teacher at Haywood County Schools. She graduated from Tuscola in 1996 and earned a bachelor’s degree in human ecology from the University of Tennessee, where she graduated Summa Cum Laude in three years. After graduating, she worked in community health education at the Buncombe County Health Department until the birth of her first son, when she became a full-time mother while teaching. group fitness trainer and personal trainer at Haywood Regional Health and Fitness Center. After 17 years, she retired from fitness and moved into coaching, where she is currently in her fourth year at WMS. She is an active member of the Antioch Baptist Church, serves as treasurer of the Big T Club (Tuscola’s athletic booster club), and frequently attends WMS and Tuscola activities, as well as county school board meetings. from Haywood.
Haynes said his main reason for running for office was his passion for children and education.
“I believe that all children, regardless of their abilities, deserve the opportunity to become the best version of themselves. I believe it is the responsibility of parents, teachers, administrators and the school board to work together to provide these opportunities and help children thrive.
Haynes said she has three goals if elected: cultivate an environment that supports students, teachers and staff, serve as a liaison between parents and the school system to address concerns, and create and implement policies. and procedures that generate impartiality throughout the county.
She said her life experiences, her history in the school system and youth sports, her passion for children and family dynamics qualify her to be a school board member.
“I have experience with children of all backgrounds and abilities, and regardless of my personal beliefs and convictions, I am able to honor and respect differing opinions and practices. This is my desire to uphold the rules and laws of our governing bodies,” she said.
Marla Morris, Crabtree District/Iron Duff
Organic : Morris, 51, has spent the past 22 years as a volunteer in the public school system. His roles there include PTO officer, member of the school improvement team, substitute teacher and member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. She graduated from Tuscola and earned a degree from Western Carolina University. Morris sits on the board of the Southwest North Carolina Fellowship of Christian Athletes and is a youth leader at Dellwood Baptist Church.
Morris said she is looking for a new opportunity to serve students, teachers and staff at Haywood County Schools.
“I have always believed strongly in a life of service and investing each day in meaningful work,” she said.
Morris said she had three goals if elected: to create an innovative trade school, increase retention rates, and ensure student success in and out of the classroom.
“I would like to see our county create an innovative business school that would allow students to reinvest in our county. Second, continue to grow our schools by maintaining a positive retention rate. Third, to ensure that our students have every opportunity to succeed inside and outside the classroom,” she said.
Steven Kirkpatrick, District of Fine’s Creek
Organic : Kirkpatrick, 47, is an installation technician/splicer at AT&T. He graduated from Tuscola and completed a two-year Electronics Technician degree at Haywood Community College. He has served on the school board for 20 years. Kirkpatrick sits on the Buildings and Grounds Committee and is Chair of the Special Issues Committee.
Kirkpatrick said he wanted to see through flood recovery in Canton.
“It looks like we are making progress,” he said, and he wants to continue to be part of this process.
“My goal is to try to move the school system forward instead of backward,” he said. “These will be things that we need to tackle in the near future and that will allow us to move in the right direction.”
In 2018, Kirkpatrick won the election without a challenger.