Impact of Leadership

 It was the summer of 1975. Joe North and I were riding in my 1959 black Chevrolet truck throughout the southeastern part of McNairy County talking to young eighth grade students who were getting prepared to go to high school. There were about thirty-five students, who, a few weeks earlier, had graduated from the eighth grade at Michie Middle School. It was hot that summer but we managed to contact each student and his/her family about the possibility of attending Adamsville High School. Prior to that year the only option that students from Michie had was to attend McNairy Central High School located in Selmer, Tennessee. At that time there was not a school zoning policy for the eight schools in the McNairy County School System.

Coach North, who taught at the Michie School that year, knew the students. I also knew many of the people in that part of the county because my wife was from the area and her dad, Henry Dodd, was a mail carrier at the Michie Post Office. Mr. Chisholm, the principal at Adamsville High School, had given me approval to see if anyone might want to come to AHS. Mr. Chisholm also arranged for Coach North to come to Adamsville the next year to teach and assist me in coaching basketball.

After much effort reaching out to the students, there were eight young people who wanted to come to high school in Adamsville. But a problem surfaced. How were they going to be transported to the school? The distance from Michie to Adamsville is about fifteen miles and most ninth graders are not eligible to drive. Students from Michie who attended McNairy Central High School were travelling the approximately fourteen miles via a direct express bus. But there was no express route going from Michie to Adamsville and it was not logical for one to be established for only eight students.

Frank Lambert was the transportation supervisor for the county school system at that time. We approached Mr. Lambert about how we could get the eight students from Michie to Adamsville. He agreed to  design a plan for these students. So he arranged for them  to ride Mr. Dale Fisher's McNairy Central express bus from Michie to Stantonville and then transfer to Mr. Vinson Wilkins' bus which would bring them to AHS. Criticism followed that decision but Mr. Lambert did not recant. His decision was final. The following year the number of students wanting to enter high school at AHS increased significantly enough to merit a newly formed express bus from Michie to Adamsville. In time there were enough students coming to Adamsville that it was necessary to have 2 express buses. 

Mr. Frank Lambert's decision at the time was creative and bold. McNairy County had closed four high schools in the school system in 1969. The Adamsville community had resisted that consolidation plan. Feelings were strong at that time in the county. During those early days of consolidation there was even an express bus established to transport students from Adamsville to McNairy Central who wanted to attend there. The previous superintendent of schools had wanted to close the small high school in Adamsville. But, Mr. Elgin Howard, the newly elected superintendent, did not.

Most people in the Michie and Adamsville communities do not know of the critical role Frank Lambert played in the establishment of a plan which has allowed students from Michie to attend high school in Adamsville for many years now. 

Another interesting fact is that Frank was not from Adamsville. He graduated from Selmer High School in the 1950s. I am convinced that this transformational step could not have occurred without the leadership of Frank Lambert. He died this past November 30, 2021, at the age of 85. The impact of his decision to help eight students, who did not come from influential or political homes,  has grown to hundreds over these past 46 years. His decision also increased the student enrollment that was so essential and necessary for the building of the new Adamsville High School that opened in 1981. Leadership impacts the future as is evidenced by his simple timely decision. Sometimes the character of effective leaders is more accurately measured in their small and seemingly insignificant decisions. Thanks for the courage and integrity of Frank Lambert to do the right thing for eight young people so many years ago. 

Remember, I believe we are all leaders regardless of our position.