After 24 years, Garner decides it's time to step down at PHS

For 24 years, James "Jim" Garner has sat behind the principal's desk of Pleasant Home School.

He has seen the move from slide rules to electronic calculators, from Apple IIE freestanding computers to portable laptops and from chalkboards to LCD projectors. After 44 years in education, Garner says it's now time to upgrade one more thing at Pleasant Home School - its principal.

On Tuesday, members of the Covington County Board of Education announced Garner's impending retirement in August. When he sat down to reflect upon his time as an educator, there were never any "I's" or "me's," it was all "we's" as he told about the changes he's seen at PHS -- always giving credit for his longstanding career to everyone but himself.

"Pleasant Home has and will always hold a special place in my heart," Garner said. "I never thought I'd come back here, but life has a way of taking you exactly where you need to be."

Garner began his career in 1964 after earning his degree from Troy State University. His first teaching job was at T.R. Miller in Brewton, where he got his first taste of coaching basketball.

"They let me teach science and coach basketball," he said. "They attempted to let me coach football, but I told them I was just a 'paid manager' for the team because I didn't know anything about football."

In 1966, he got a lifetime opportunity after being accepted into Mississippi State's National Science Foundation. While there, he earned a master's degree in zoology and chemistry. By then, he was feeling the beginnings of the tug of home. During the 1970s, Garner made the transition from public school system to the two-year college system after he was employed at what is now known as Lurleen B. Wallace Community College.

"Back then, it was just a junior college," he said. "It had been open about three years when I had the opportunity to teach science and coach basketball there. I stayed for 13 years before coming to Pleasant Home."

And believe it or not, the decision to come to Pleasant Home was one Garner made only after careful consideration.

"I had heard through members of the community that [the principal] spot was coming open," he said. "By then, my wife, Sherry, and I had three children - a 10th grader, another in school and a preschooler, and I knew that I wanted to spend more time with them and watch them grow up.

"I thought about it, prayed about it and by the time the decision was made, I knew it was the place for us," he said. "It's our home and will continue to be our home."

The key to the school's success does not rest on his desk, Garner said.

"Everything we have accomplished at this school is credited to our faculty and students," he said. "That's what I'm going to miss the most about being here every day - the way a child's face lights up when they're learning; the people that I work with that have become family. I've been blessed with dedicated individuals that work hard and have the children's best interest at heart.

"Students are amazing. I love watching them grow and mature," he said. "I'm going to miss the day-to-day contact them the most."

Garner said he plans to work part time with school board, enjoy his home life during retirement and do some traveling.

"After 44 years, they're not going to get rid of me that easily," he said. "I'll do some part time work at the central office, I think. I know that spending time with my nine grandchildren is a definite."