‘Putting education first’ Coach Clyde Jackson joins race for Houston County School Board

HOUSTON COUNTY – Clyde Jackson announced his candidacy for the Houston County School Board, post 7.

Jackson is a lifelong resident of Houston County and grew up in the Houston County school system. He retired from teaching history and coaching at Bonaire Middle School after serving for 30 years.

“Thats rare in itself because most teachers now, they move all over the place, looking for the salaries and this other stuff but we’re trying to be consistent with educating kids and make sure to retain the teachers here in Houston County,” Jackson said.

Jackson grew up in Kathleen and attended Pearl Stephens Elementary, Bonaire Elementary, Miller Elementary, Warner Robins Middle School and graduated from Warner Robins High School. Throughout school, he played football, basketball and baseball, which led to a football scholarship to Fort Valley State University. 

He graduated with a middle grade education degree and returned to the county, where he continued his education career. Jackson started his career at Northside Middle School from 1988 to 1995. When Bonaire Middle School was built, he moved there to continue teaching and start their athletic program.

Jackson and his wife Dr. Traci McKenzie-Jackson have been married for 35 years and were high school and college sweethearts. Traci is also a retired educator and principal.

They have two children: Jada (Marvin) Jackson and Clyde Jackson, III who both graduated from Warner Robins High School. Jackson shared ,coincidentally, his son was Homecoming King and his daughter was Homecoming Queen at WRHS. His family have lived in the county for nearly a century. 

Jackson’s passion for education and commitment to students inspired him to run for the school board.  He shared he will make sure students will receive access to quality resources and opportunities.

“Serving on the board will allow me to contribute to a positive education system and work collaborate with others and make decisions that benefit students and schools,” Jackson said.

He shared so far, his campaign is going well, and he has received a lot of emails and phone calls. Jackson said he has received a lot of support, especially from his church family.  

“We have people emailing, calling, being supportive, asking, ‘What can we do? What can we do? How can we help you become successful running this campaign?’ Everything has been going really good so far,” Jackson said. 

He said his main priorities would be the students and continue the county’s success in making sure they are taken care of. Jackson also shared he will make sure there is a balanced budget for the teachers, students and staff. 

“It’s a great place to live, great place to raise a family. Sporting events, we have the best sporting facilities that we could have. We could compete with anybody in the state as far as sports. We’re just happy to be here, it’s a growing community. People coming here can tell you that Houston County is a great place to live. It’s really progressive and we have people coming from all over. If you look around, we have all these new subdivisions, apartments so we got to be prepared and make sure that we’re putting education first,” Jackson said. 

Being a coach for many years also contributed to his leadership style and working with a team. He described his style as bringing and understanding positive change.

“Being a coach, you want to rally everybody. You want to make sure everybody is pretty much on the same page and try to communicate. We all work together and work together to bring out the positive outcome,” Jackson said.

He said as a board member, they only have one vote, and everybody must work together. Jackson said he will work with the other members to make sure they discuss and come up with the best solution for students, teachers and everyone who is involved in the community. 

Jackson encourages people to vote for him because of his experience and his knowledge in education. 

“My knowledge and experience will help me to provide leadership and to build a vision that all can share in,” Jackson said. “Being on the board, you must be responsive and listen to all your constituents.