Episode 1: The Heart of Education

In this first episode, we’ll hear from teachers and staff about what it means to truly invest in education. You'll discover the passion that drives our educators, the connections they build, and how their commitment creates an environment where learning and growth thrive.

Transcript

Meaghan Paramore (00:14.924)
Welcome to It Means More, the stories behind Dothan City Schools, where we will explore the extraordinary dedication and innovation happening in our classrooms and communities every day. I'm Megan Dorsey, Public Relations Officer for Dothan City Schools, and I'm joined today with my guest co-host, Mr. Chris Payne, the principal of Carver School for Math, Science and Technology. And today we're diving into the heart of education, our amazing teachers who go above and beyond to make a difference. 

Meaghan Paramore (00:44.834)
Thank you, Megan. I appreciate that. I appreciate the invitation to come here today. In this first episode, we'll hear from teachers and staff about what it means to truly invest in education. You'll discover the passion that drives our educators, the connections they build, and how their commitment creates an environment where learning and growth thrive. Let's start today with the backbone of our schools, our teachers. At Dothan City Schools, teaching isn't just a job. It's a calling. 

Meaghan Paramore (01:14.626)
Today, we'll spotlight a few educators whose work has had a profound impact on their students. We have two teachers with us today who are in two different stages of their teacher careers, and we will hear from them on their journey in education. Today, we have with us Candace Hanners from Kelly Springs Elementary School, where she serves as their media specialist. Ms. Hanners has been in education for 29 years. And our other guest, 

Meaghan Paramore (01:42.442)
is Dayana Kincey from Heard Elementary School where she is a second grade teacher. This is Miss Kincey's first year as a teacher. So welcome Miss Hanners and Miss Kincey Let's start with Miss Hanners. Tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got into education. 

Meaghan Paramore (02:00.402)
All right, well I am glad to be here. I am a product of Dothan City Schools. Both of my parents were teachers in Dothan City Schools. I was going to be a great wanted to be a graphic designer and then decided 

Meaghan Paramore (02:13.806)
let me just stay home and go be a teacher like my mama. I did start out with being a teacher's aide and I worked, I started out at Dale County and worked there for about a year. But then my heart was in Dothan City and I wanted to come back to Dothan City because I knew it was a good system and I grew up in it. And so I got in with Wilson Street and Mr. Brown. And then I was there for about six weeks and got transferred to Kelly Springs. And I have been at Kelly Springs for 28 years. 

Meaghan Paramore (02:43.342)
That's my home. Our librarian was getting ready to retire and she says, Candy, you'd be really good at this. And so I went back to school and got my degree and when she retired, I slid right into her position. I've been a librarian for about 20 years. So what about you, Miss Kitsy? Tell us about you and how you got to where you are. I have always dreamed about being a teacher ever since I was five years old. I used to practice at home and I made my mom the principal. I had paperwork and everything. 

Meaghan Paramore (03:12.598)
Of course, I went through school. I am a product of Dothan City Schools as well. I took a year off. My mom was like, why don't you sub while you're waiting to get your certification? I said, okay, I'm going try it. I subbed. 

Meaghan Paramore (03:25.666)
The teachers loved me. So I started getting calls from the county. I started getting calls from the city. It was like, Ms. Kincey, we want you to serve, we want you to serve. And then I came to her one day and one teacher loved me. I kept going back. I got to know Ms. Fleming. And Ms. Fleming, she was like, hey, I want you to be a special ed aide. And I told her, I said, I'm about to graduate. I said, I'm going to bring you an application that I want to be a teacher. So fast forward, I passed my certification. 

Meaghan Paramore (03:55.278)
I sent my resume to her and she had called me and emailed me the same day and was like, we got new positions, I'm ready for you. And I was like, that is such a coincidence that she was looking for me and I was looking for her. So now I'm a second grade teacher at Herd Elementary. I love my children. I never gave up and now I'm here. I love it. 

Meaghan Paramore (04:14.094)
It's interesting because you're both in these two different eras. I guess that's the theme word of the year. It is. You're in two different eras of your career. And we will also include Mr. Payne in this. Because Mr. Payne, how long have you been in education? I'm in my 27th year. Wow. So I did nine years right out of college at Delville Middle School. And in 2007, I moved to Dothan High. 

Meaghan Paramore (04:40.142)
And I was at Dothan High until the consolidation took place and moved over into DPA. Now I'm the principal over at Carver MST and loving every minute of it. So we have the different eras when you talk about your first year teacher, your veteran teachers, your veteran administrator. So you have these different eras. And this is a question for all of you. 

Meaghan Paramore (05:04.468)
Was there someone in your life that was that motivating force? My mom. I mean, she, you know, I was one of those that, you know, helped her every summer. I helped her. I can remember she was at, started out at East Island and then went to Grandview and she like, it seemed almost every year we were moving to different rooms. And finally I looked at Mr. Whiting and I said, will you please not move my mom this summer? But just. 

Meaghan Paramore (05:31.746)
Being involved with her and seeing what she did and what her grade group did, you know, I still talk about how mom and her second grade cohorts, they met every single week. They planned together. They did all of the, and so I still talk about how that's so important as a grade level to have that camaraderie and that working together. And so she was always a constant in my ear, still in my ear. 

Meaghan Paramore (05:59.634)
Even when the library is a mess in the summertime, she'll say, pick up one thing and go put it up. So she has been my constant. For me, I would say, first of all, I was my own motivation. I had a second grade teacher, Miss Thompson. I told her that I was going be a teacher. And I've seen her ever since I've been grown. And every time I tell her, I'm like, I'm in college now. I'm doing this. When I seen her the other day in Publix, I told her, I said, I got my certification. I'm a teacher. And she was like, you said you was going to do it. 

Meaghan Paramore (06:29.518)
and you did it. I said I was going to do something and I've done it and I've accomplished it and now, you know, I'm just living out my dream. It really is a calling. How do y'all get through those tough days? mean, Mr. Payne, I know you're an administrator. How do you get through the tough days? How do you motivate other people to get through the tough days? Well, it's... 

Meaghan Paramore (06:48.5)
It's pretty easy when you walk into school and as you walk down the hallways, kids are high-fiving you and giving you hugs. It's the smiles on their face each and every day. So that alone is motivating. Anytime you can make a child's day brighter, it just makes that next step down the hallway that much more special. I've had a blessed... 

Meaghan Paramore (07:06.306)
teaching career. It's not something that I sought out to do whenever I graduated high school. I grew up military and the whole time I was growing up we were moving constantly from military base to military base. Settled in Enterprise, went to the junior college and it was Fay Ernest, my art teacher. I was pretty good at art. 

Meaghan Paramore (07:22.606)
do a career in art as a professional artist or an architect. And she said, why don't you try art education? And I was like, that's not even something I've ever even thought about. And I started working with the local schools and doing some student teaching. And I was like, my gosh, this is it. This is the greatest job in the world. And they'll pay me to draw. This is insane. after I went from the junior college and went to Troy, I graduated with my art education degree and started over there at Daleville. And it was... 

Meaghan Paramore (07:49.868)
very quickly after I started teaching, that I knew this was my calling, that this was my mission field. I got into coaching and spent years coaching over there at Delville, but for me, it was when it took a toll on me when I started to lose students. As they went into high school and they got involved in things that ended up taking their life from drugs and automobile accidents and stuff like that, it took a big toll on me. 

Meaghan Paramore (08:15.886)
You know, was a time whenever I made a recommitment, I said, if I'm going to do this, I want to give it everything I got and started a club. I gave up all my coaching stipends and all my coaching duties. 

Meaghan Paramore (08:25.08)
to start a club called SAD, Students Against Destructive Decisions, and had no idea what path that would lead me on. know, within two years of starting that club, we were recognized as one of the top programs in the country. We got picked up as volunteer service with the White House. That's kind of what got the attention of the principal at Dothan High School and said, we'd be very interested if you brought that program here and we think it can make a difference. I decided to take that opportunity and moved to Dothan High, passionate about 

Meaghan Paramore (08:53.39)
drawing and painting. I painted on every wall at Dothan High. Inside, outside, I was painting and the principal said, it's a blank canvas, have fun. So I painted stripes on the front of the gym, a mural around the field house, inside the gymnasiums, outside. And then our sad chapter took off and it was within about four or five years we got our first national award and then we became one of the top programs in the country. 

Meaghan Paramore (09:17.006)
seeing these students and the lives that it changed with the student body was impressive. You know, it just motivated me to do more and more. Okay, well, you know, one of the things I always love when we have 

Meaghan Paramore (09:28.27)
teachers come into our school is hearing some of the stories that impacted their life. What was that moment? Who was that child? What was that situation that happened that changed them? Not necessarily a specific moment, but when you've been teaching 29 years, you tend, especially being at the same school, you start getting the children of the students that you taught before. And so I've gotten lots of children in that their parents came through. And so when they come in, you know, they're one surprised to 

Meaghan Paramore (09:58.224)
see I'm still there. But you know they talk about how they loved coming in the library and loved you know the stories we read and the things we did. That's when I realized okay I am doing something right. I had a little girl she was in my class she had started in the wrong classroom. I had her for like two weeks and we figured out that she wasn't with me anymore and so she 

Meaghan Paramore (10:21.198)
bawled her eyes out the day they came to get her. And she cried all day. They got her like at eight o'clock that morning and she cried all the way till two o'clock. And so her teacher was like, give her a hug, you know, every time she see me in the hallway. And every day she has stopped by in the morning to give me a hug. And every time she see me in the hallway, she has stopped by to give me a hug. I knew then, I said, it's crazy how I made an impact in two weeks of school. What is something that we all do for self care? 

Meaghan Paramore (10:49.004)
You know, I do, I take the time to have quiet time and I read. You know, I do take naps. I love naps. I did not nap when I was a little girl and I drove my mama crazy, but I sure love naps now. And so, you know, it's important that even as adults, we take time to just rest. Right. I agree with the mental health because like I said, my first week of teaching, I was so exhausted, but it wasn't even a physical exhausted. I was mentally exhausted. 

Meaghan Paramore (11:17.518)
Mr. Payne might love this, but I actually watch art videos on YouTube. I literally just watch them. So you're saying like, what is it, Bob Ross? The happy trees. Literally, I love watching like painting videos. Sometimes when I can't sleep, I'll turn one on. I'll let it be like an hour long. I love them. Mr. Payne, what does your self care? I have a feeling it has something to do with art. Well, I do like to draw and paint. You know, one of the things that 

Meaghan Paramore (11:46.124)
I've had to try to do is to be more intentional with my relaxation time. Because as you get older, and I hit the big five-oh this year, I can feel it. You know, I realize that as I'm getting older that, you know, I've got to rest and I've got to take that time. Or it gets a lot harder to wake up in the morning and move around. That is awesome. So let's talk about teaching philosophy. 

Meaghan Paramore (12:13.902)
Do y'all have a teaching philosophy? And tell us about that and how you go an extra mile for our students. That always seems like a hard question. It takes me back to, you know, in college when you're you're telling you got to have a philosophy. like, I don't know what I'm doing some days. I guess now it's like, you know, you can plan and plan and plan, but it's really, you know, when you walk into that room and those kids are there. 

Meaghan Paramore (12:42.156)
they're going to end up directing which way you go. always want them to have fun. want them to find love coming to the library. I want them to be excited. Making anything that we do and they're exciting and that they want to be part of it. What's your teaching philosophy? I'm looking at you now. But I just think you try to get them to understand in their little mind how the world works, what works for them, and things of that nature. 

Meaghan Paramore (13:11.93)
You're shaping these small minds to be productive adults, but also be who they are. Right. Do the best you can at Yes. Don't think that you made a mistake, it's the end of the world. Right. It's not the end of the world. You most definitely will get another chance. And so I tell them that, and I literally made the class like repeat it back to me as like an affirmation. I'm like, everybody makes mistakes. And you know, I'm not a teacher. 

Meaghan Paramore (13:40.738)
but I do have philosophy. It's actually on the wall behind you. Brian Stevenson, who is a civil rights attorney, he said this to a group that I was with, don't stop. The work is hard, but the work is worth it. That is my personal philosophy. I'm not a teacher. But you could adopt this philosophy if you like. Well, it fits with education, especially today. It fits so well. 

Meaghan Paramore (14:06.862)
You know, because for the kids, it's hard, but it's worth it. For us, it's hard, it's worth it. We would like to thank our guests. Thank you both for being a part of this conversation. Thank you, Mr. Payne, for being our co-guest host. Absolutely. Thank you, Our guest co-host. We really appreciate it. I think we all had an engaging conversation, and we're very excited to see how the rest of your school year goes. We wish you all the best. 

Meaghan Paramore (14:31.562)
And I'd like to say thank you to Meg and the other Megan that's working the machines over here. my classmate. Good job. Today we've seen how Dothan C schools isn't just about education. It's about nurturing, inspiring, and preparing each student for a bright future. Every year, every teacher, every staff member, every partnership, and every student adds to the rich tapestry that makes our schools a place where it truly means more. 

Meaghan Paramore (15:00.706)
Alright, so we'd like to invite you to get involved, whether it's by supporting our schools, sharing your own stories, or simply spreading the word about the incredible work happening here. Join us on our mission to make education more meaningful for every student. Next time on It Means More, we'll be exploring the power of community involvement and how our schools and local organizations are working together to create opportunities for all. 

Meaghan Paramore (15:28.63)
Until then, remember that at Dothan City Schools, it always means more.