Introducing Dr. Shanna Wilkes

New Superintendent Dr. Shanna Wilkes has finished her first week in our school system.

While you can’t know everything about a job in a week, Dr. Wilkes has already realized just how important the community is to the school system and the Board of Education.

It was actually the community itself that brought Dr. Wilkes to Gilmer County. While she had started looking for a Superintendent position as a goal in her career, it was friends and coworkers that brought our position to her and asked if she was going to apply.

But, why Gilmer? The community and town “felt like home,” reminding Dr. Wilkes a little of where she grew up in Helen. The outdoor activities along with the friendliness of the people she has met have provided her an added benefit to joining us. She also enjoys the faith in the area as it represents such strength, compassion, and a dedication to the betterment of both the people and the society.

As a very motivated and organized young lady, Dr. Wilkes also leads a very active lifestyle including Hiking and Mountain Biking with her husband, Mark, who Dr. Wilkes states was supportive of any Superintendent position. Yet, he has been very happy with the opportunity to stay in the North Georgia area. She also encourages their daughter as she is showing great interest in pursuing Hapkido, Archery, and Gymnastics.

Dr. Wilkes brings her family with her to the school system as her husband, Mark, will be teaching World History in the High School, her daughter, Macie, will be entering Middle School, and her son, Cohen, will be entering Kindergarten.

With family, Dr. Wilkes could draw from personal experience as a Superintendent, but says that her family doesn’t really affect her job much because she has always looked into tough decisions thinking

‘What would I want if my kids were in this situation?’

Rather than focusing on personal ideals and plans, though, Dr. Wilkes “hopes to become a very familiar face” in the schools and the community. She plans to be riding buses and constantly be in the schools to focus on the important things like the relationships with the staff and kids.

It’s about personal relationships with the principals to find a way to support each and every kid to make them enjoy school, feel safe to ask questions, and feel supported in finding their own paths and interests.

Understanding this involves more than just class and curriculum, Dr. Wilkes states,

“I will be at every event that I can possibly make it to.”

This type of attitude offers a realization that our students need to be supported in all they do, not just as a student in a classroom. A superintendent could be an administrator that no student ever meets or knows, but the opportunity is there to do more and be more as Dr. Wilkes states

“a child who feels safe and comfortable, and has things to draw their interest, they will be much more successful.”

Without getting too focused on one area, Dr. Wilkes also says she wants to dedicate her position to strengthen the staff of these schools and people of the area, stating,

“The stronger the bond between the community and the schools, the stronger our education will be.”

It’s one thing to be the Teacher who wants to help every student in their class, and another to be a Principal supporting the Teachers, and even further to a Superintendent who supports the Principal to support the teachers. Dr. Wilkes brings a great experience as a link between the State and the Schools to help provide not only support, encouragement, and a path to lead the School System through, but to also help with foundations of a system be they funding or state guidelines and rankings.

An ability to get into this and guide the schools through these upcoming years requires a great amount of discipline and organisation, which Dr. Wilkes shows a great strength in. Yet, she states,

“You can’t do this job without being flexible… Every hour of every day is different.”

Part of that flexibility is what she is going through right now. The idea of transition is never easy, and as close as we are to the beginning of the school year it is made more difficult. Dr. Wilkes has been very grateful for the assistance of Dr. Charles Webb, the previous Interim Superintendent, who has provided a “wealth of experience.” The aid of moving into the culture and providing a knowledge of details about the position and the county have been more than helpful in adapting to this county’s procedures and protocol.

“I always have room to learn, and I’m always open when I recognize someone has knowledge I can benefit from,”

says Dr. Wilkes.

While we at FYN wanted to get a chance to introduce our new Superintendent, one must understand this is only a week into the job. It is certain, the further into the year we get and the more Board of Education meetings we get to see Dr Wilkes at, we will continue to discover more and more about her as she becomes part of this system, and part of our home. We welcome Dr. Wilkes and wish her great success for our schools and students.