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Busy Dean Runs for County School Board
by Tyler Coates
Craig Goforth, Dean of Student Life
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Craig Goforth, dean of students at Mars Hill College, is running for a third term on the Madison County Board of Education.
His opponent is Jack Radford, a retired educator from the Beech Glen Community.
"Wanting to be a part of something that means a lot to me is what makes it worth it," said Goforth. I have always cared about the kids in Madison County and making sure they receive the proper help. I want to make sure that my voice is heard, and that's why I'm going for my third spot at the table."
Right now Goforth is pushing to have a certification program at Madison High School in vocational subjects like electrical work, plumbing and basic design. "Not everybody is going to be a college professor or a doctor or a lawyer. There are a lot of people making good money in welding, plumbing, electrical work, and house-building...One big reason why I'm running for my third term on the board is to make sure that every young adult that walks across that stage at Madison High School has choices," Goforth said.
Since he has been on the school board, he has seen Brush Creek Elementary School built. At Madison High School, work on a practice gym and a swimming pool is underway, and he wants to see work completed on a science wing. In his campaign he speaks of helping establish the ROTC program at the high school and pushing for remodeling and adding to Mars Hill Elementary school, which is getting crowded. At least once a year he goes to the elementary school with volunteers from the college to rake leaves and to paint. He has watched the football and men's basketball teams at Madison High go to the State playoffs for the first time in 2006 after hiring new coaches.
"The main problem is just like in any church and in most homes, and it's our problem here at Madison County School Board," says Goforth. "Our problem is money. We don't have enough money to do everything that needs or wants to be done. That's when the problem begins. It's when we try to determine where to spend the money that we DO have. The Feds keep saying that we need to have better schools, have better equipment, better everything, but yet they don't give us the resources that we need to get it done."
Between high school soccer games, being the dean of students at Mars Hill College, and being a really active member on the School Board, Goforth is always on the move. Now that his three sons have all graduated from Madison High and moved on, what pushes him to still be on the school board?
"It's my faith. I believe that I am called to be a member on this board . I believe that God has called me and put me on this board to serve. If I didn't believe that, if I wasn't called to be on this board, I wouldn't run, and I wouldn't have run eight years ago for my first term. I don't take it lightly. I take this job very seriously and respect it, and it's not all that fun.
"Even though my blood kids aren't there anymore, I still have kids in my heart there. I have raised thirteen foster kids, and the kids that I have coached though the years, they're still there, and I feel responsible for them. My job isn't done yet. I have to finish what I have started," says Goforth.
Goforth and his wife Mary Alice have three sons of their own. Devon, 22, works at Johns Hopkins in physics labs. Daniel, 21, is a junior at Mars Hill College. Aaron, 20, attends Gardner-Webb University.
The Madison County School Board has five members. The board chairman is elected county-wide. Two members are elected from District One, composed of the Mars Hill, Grapevine, Beech Glen, and Ebbs Chapel communities. This is the district that Goforth represents. The other two members of the board are elected from the rest of the county, which includes Marshall, Hot Springs, and Spring Creek.
The county has six schools. Madison High School and Madison Middle School serve the whole county. There are four elementary schools: Mars Hill, Brush Creek (serving Marshall), Hot Springs, and Laurel.
"Everybody on the board has strengths and weaknesses," Goforth says. "My strengths are that I have been a member of this board now for eight years. I understand what's going on. I understand the Federal aspect of it. I understand the bureaucracy of it. And I understand how difficult it is for a five-member school board and a five-member board of county commissioners to come to a conclusion on anything and to get the problems worked out.
"My weakness is that I want to see things get done today. I have very little patience when I know something that is right needs to be done."
Reader Comment:
Rebekka Harper Powers, alumna, 4/28/2008, 9:19 a.m.
Dean Goforth you are an inspiration to all of the educators, like myself, who are here to make a change and won't give up until the job has been completed! Thank you and good luck!!
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