Meet Jeff Jenkins, the associate principal at Lanier College and Career
Academy. Jeff has lived in Hall County most of his life and truly believes in impacting
students and loving his community.
We want to thank Jeff for taking a few moments with us recently to tell us a little more about his life and love of Hall County.
Question: How long have you lived or worked in Hall County?

Answer: “I have lived in Hall County pretty much my entire life, except for when I was off in
college. I spent four years at Piedmont College but other than that I’ve lived in Hall County. As a
matter of fact my family goes way back in Hall County. Mine and my sister’s sons are the fifth
generation to live on our property (in Hall County), on what’s left of the old family farm.”
Q: What inspired or led you to your current career?
A: “Well, I’ll be honest, when I was younger I never thought I would be a teacher or an educator but I student taught at West Hall High School. I majored in biology, so I thought ‘why not give teaching a try?’ So, I student taught at West Hall, and fortunately for me I was offered a job there, right after I student taught in 1991. I worked there for many years and I didn’t know if I would like it, but the more I taught the more rewarding it was for me, and of course, I hope, rewarding for the students. Overall, it’s been a rewarding career for me, because I get to help others. I get to see people grow and learn, so that’s fun to watch.”
Q: So what brought you to Lanier College and Career Academy?
A: “There was a new program, this used to be more of an evening program, but I came over and I was part of when they started having daytime classes here. I was not an administrator at the time, I was a teacher here and I started working with students in the daytime, at least students getting their GED or finishing up their diploma. I then became a graduation coach here, and
then I think this may be my sixth year as an administrator here. I came over when they started doing some daytime classes here that weren’t offered before.”
Q: What is your favorite restaurant in Hall County?
A: “Well, if you’re not talking about chains and you’re talking about local, family-owned, I would have to say Smokehouse Barbecue.”
Q: Who’s the most interesting person you’ve met in Hall County?
A: “I tend to keep everything close to the family, but I think my grandfather, Buster Harris, who used to work for the Forestry Commission. A very, very interesting man. He was a hard-working man who gave a lot of himself to the community and was just very well thought of. One of my favorite people ever.”
Q: What’s your favorite childhood memory?
A: “As I grew up in Hall County, my favorite childhood memory is probably playing little league baseball in Hall County and working on all the chores on our, it was sort of a hobby farm, but doing all the chores at home with family- that was always fun. It wasn’t really fun at the time, but looking back at it, it was something fun that kept our family close.”
Q: If you could travel anywhere in the world right now, where would it be?
A: “I have never been to Alaska. But I would really like to go to Alaska, and see the wide open spaces and just all of the rugged country.”
Q: If you were standing in front of a crowd of people, what advice would you give?
A: “Get outside of yourself, and make your life about serving others, get outside of yourself because it’s rewarding for both you and for them. Life is never going to be rewarding if you’re all in it for yourself.”
Q: What’s something on your bucket list?
A: “I’ve never been to Yellowstone and I’ve never been to the Grand Canyon, so when I retire one day I’d like to visit one of those places.”
Q: What local business makes you most nostalgic about Hall County?
A: “When I was growing up in the 70s, there were lots of little grocery stores around in those days, and you kind of did the rounds through all the grocery stores. But there was one little grocery store that we always went to called C & C Grocery, and it was in downtown Flowery Branch on Main Street. My mother was a librarian, when there was a library in downtown Flowery Branch, and we would always go to C & C Grocery to get a Coke or a snack at the end of the day. But that was one of my favorite places to visit as a child.”
Q: What is the first movie you remember seeing in a theater?
A: “I remember probably the ‘Apple Dumpling Gang,’ have you ever heard of that before? Probably not. There was also a movie called Gus about a horse that kicked field goals, do you know about that one? No, definitely not. It’d probably have to be Gus or the Apple Dumpling Gang.”
Q: So choosing anyone, past or present, that you could have lunch with, who would it be?
A: “Probably President Theodore Roosevelt, because he was an adventurer, and an outdoorsman. He was a man’s man, so to speak, and I’d like to sit down and have a conversation with him about his life and his philosophy.”
Q: What is your favorite thing about Hall County?
A: “My favorite thing about Hall County is geographically it is kind of the gateway to the mountains, I like being in and around the lake and I like being in the mountains. The climate is really good and you’re probably not going to meet nicer or more welcoming people than you will in Hall County.”
Q: Where do you see yourself in five or 10 years?
A: “I will more than likely be semi-retired, and probably still working with young people in some capacity. I find it very rewarding to work with young people, and even if I retire from working full-time, I still want to do that and mentor kids.”
Q: What is something interesting that most people don’t know about you?
A: “Probably, most people now would realize that I grew up singing in the choir at church.”
Q: What three words mean HOME to you?
A: Family, Roots, History- there’s a lot of history at my home because of all the generations who have passed through there.
Q: “Speaking of the many generations, how has your family had an impact on Hall County?”
A: “From an agricultural standpoint, I know that my grandfather was pretty influential in the world of agriculture as a cotton farmer in the 40s, 50s, and into the 60s, My father was the first one to get off the farm, he worked at General Motors, but we still kept the land, and we still try to keep it going. We have goats now, less cattle but we have some goats now and a few chickens.”
Interview by Flowery Branch High intern Julia Peake
The Faces of Hall County is a project to showcase the amazing people that live in our community. If you would like to nominate an interesting person to be featured please email babernathy@gonorton.com.