Today, I have the privilege of speaking with a professional educator who has been making those kinds of differences in individual lives for more than 20 years. He has taught in widely ranging environments, has served in several unique administrative capacities, and now very capably leads Jasper County Schools. I first met Joe Sornberger shortly after the school year began and immediately sensed that this was someone who knew how to get things done; who had a demonstrable track record for doing so. So, I was very much looking forward to getting to know him better during this discussion and to sharing his story with the community. For all the plates spinning in the world of Joe Sornberger, he distills everything down to a simple mandate, “How can we best serve the students of Jasper County?” Yes, He’s got to prepare a budget, work with his administrators on all manners of daily complexity, make himself available to the media, decide what qualifies for a snow day and what doesn’t, participate with a range of community groups and organizations to forge community partnerships for the District, he’s gotta keep a close eye on the assessed valuation of real property within the district boundaries and make important recommendations to his board regarding tax levies and possible bond issues, but at the end of the day, his focus is brought into incredibly tight alignment by those ten simple, but critically important words: “How can we best serve the students of Jasper County?” That’s who he is; I believe that.