BROWNSTOWN

The time came for Salt Creek Township to have a representative on the Brownstown Central Community School Corp. board of trustees.

The township’s advisory board and trustee asked Clayton Beard if he was interested.

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After giving it some thought, he decided it would be a good opportunity to serve the school corporation that he attended growing up.

“If my township, the community felt like I would be a good representative that I should take the opportunity to fulfill that and give it a shot and see how things go,” the 34-year-old said. “If they felt that I was in a position to represent them, then I felt honored to take that position and to do it for them.”

At the end of the June 12 board of trustees meeting, President Mary Ann Spray thanked outgoing board member David Martin for his four years of service and presented him with a plaque, and then she introduced Beard.

“We do appreciate your four years of service on the board,” Spray told Martin. “It has been a pleasure to serve with you. I greatly appreciate your commitment to the board. I don’t think you missed a meeting, and you were a good asset to our board. I am sure Mr. Beard will do the same.”

Beard met the six people he will be serving with along with Superintendent Greg Walker and business manager Jade Peters. He also got a feel for how meetings operate. His first meeting as a school board member will be July 17.

Beard said he knows most of the board members. One of them, Bradie Hall, was in his class when he graduated from Brownstown Central High School in 2002.

Thinking back to that time, he said he never thought he would someday be serving on the school board.

“It’s funny how things come back around,” he said, smiling. “(Principal Joe) Sheffer said it’s odd having another one of his students on the board. It’s going to be neat. I just feel very blessed and privileged to be a part of it.”

After high school, Beard attended Franklin College and played football for a year, but he said it wasn’t for him. He then returned to Jackson County and wound up becoming the owner-operator of Crider Construction, which is based at his home near Houston.

He said he considers it a big deal to be a part of the school board, and he is ready to work with the other members to make the best decisions for the corporation.

Beard said he has taken note of the improvements that have been made in recent years at all three school buildings.

“The biggest thing about colleges competing, they want their school to look the best and be the best, and so when you have a high school that’s trying to do that — or any of the schools — that says a lot,” he said. “I think Brownstown has done really well with keeping up. I think we’re on the right track.”

Martin, 59, said those facility improvements during his time on the board are among the top accomplishments. That includes upgrading parts of the high school that had been in place since it was built in 1964.

Making the three schools more secure also was a big accomplishment, he said.

“That’s unfortunate in the world today you’ve got to think about that stuff,” he said.

Like Beard, Martin said when he initially was asked to join the board, he was hesitant. Now looking back, he’s glad he chose to serve.

“The more I thought about it, it’s an important job that needs to be done, and you want people that care about kids,” Martin said. “I thought if the people in my area think enough of me to ask me to do that, then I should step up and serve and do it, and that’s the reason I was there.”

The way the school board is set up, there is a rotating schedule between Pershing, Owen and Salt Creek townships where there has to be members from two of the townships serving at a time.

In two years, Hall, the Owen Township representative, will go off of the board, and Pershing Township, which Martin represented, will have someone back on the board.

Martin said he may consider applying at that time. Until then, he will continue to operate a machine shop with his two brothers in Freetown.

“We never know what the future holds for any of us,” he said. “In two years, if I am alive and able, I will consider it. … You’ve got to care about the kids. You’ve got to care about the generations that are coming up and give them the chances we had, better even.”

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Name: Clayton Beard

Age: 34

Residence: Houston

Education: Brownstown Central High School (2002)

Occupation: Owner-operator of Crider Construction in Houston

Family: Wife, Kayla Beard; daughters, Kinley, 5, Collins, 4, and Kambry, 1

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