Jeannie Spell Is Candidate for District 7

Jeannie Spell is running for the Central Community School Board from District 7. She released the following statement on her candidacy:

I was very fortunate to have a father who was a real hero.  In 1944, at age 14, he joined the United States Navy so he could fight in World War II.  He lied about his age, but since he was 6 feet tall, the lie was easy to believe!  He served aboard the USS Intrepid and fought to free the Philippines and in Okinawa. 

He was one of the youngest sailors in American history, until they found him out at age 16 and kicked him out of the Navy!  At age 17, he joined the U. S. Army.  When the Korean War broke out in May 1950, he had just turned 20. On June 29, he volunteered to go to Korea. He was with the first group of Americans to see combat.  Unfortunately, he and his 500 fellow GI’s were overrun by 35,000 North Koreans.  889 Americans and South Koreans were taken captive.  They embarked on the infamous 150-mile Tiger Death March.  Anyone who stumbled was immediately killed.  They were given no food, medicine, clothing or heat.  At the end of the march, only 234 were still alive.  

After that, my dad was a POW for three years — the entire war.  His weight dropped from 198 pounds to 118 pounds.  He endured every kind of suffering.  But he survived!  When my dad came back to Baton Rouge, he became a pipefitter with Local 198.

From my father, I learned the importance of loving America, freedom, determination, and having an iron will.

I love children, and I love what a good education can do for them.  I have been blessed to have taught American History and Geography in elementary school, pre-algebra and Algebra I in 8th and 9th grades, and Home Economics in high school.

In business, I was the Chief Financial Officer of Fairchild Health for two years, a buyer and merchandiser for Lifeway Books for 12 years, and a purchasing agent at Payne & Keller for five years.

I started in sales at Dillard’s at the Mall of Louisiana right after it first opened.  In that capacity, I led the Estee Lauder counter to one-year sales of $1 million.  My personal sales of cosmetics was $190,000 in sales of $20 to $60!  Estee Lauder’s national leadership team came to Baton Rouge to honor us!  They had never seen a $1 million counter in a market this size!

Perhaps my greatest success in business was in real estate at Coldwell Banker, Keller Williams, and then Remax.  I set sales records at Coldwell Banker and was named “Rookie of the Year.”  Over a 12-year period, I set many other records.  During my three best years, I had sales of $10 million to $12 million a year.  You have to love people, and you have to be competitive!

I am the wife of an evangelist, Rev. Timothy Spell.  We have been married 48 years.  We have three sons (one deceased), nine grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.  I have been a member of the same church for 50 years, and most of my community service is through my church plus Friends of the Americas and Lifeway Books.

I am very energetic.  No one will outwork me.  I believe in leading by example.  I am ready to go to work to help improve our Central community school system!  I am persuasive and will have a positive effect on negative situations that arise.

My position on the issues:

•I support the Constitution.

•100 percent pro-life

•I support traditional marriage between one man and one woman.

•I support the right to keep and bear arms and oppose additional gun control.

•I oppose granting special protection based on sexual orientation and gender identity.  Boys should use the boys restroom, and girls should use the girls restroom.  Boys should play on male sports teams, and girls should play on female sports teams.

•Everyone should present a photo ID before being allowed to vote.

•I favor reducing the federal role in local public education.

•I oppose requiring students who are healthy to wear a mask in order to go to school. Vaccines should be the choice of the parents, in accordance with current law.

•Discipline in our public schools should be strict. We should always take the time to find out who is right and who is wrong before jumping to conclusions. Students who are unruly, disruptive, or violent should be removed from the classroom.

•I oppose additional taxes without a vote of the people, and I will not support rolling forward property taxes without a vote of the people.

•I support the teaching of traditional American history and social studies and oppose rewriting our history to satisfy political correctness. While we should acknowledge our mistakes and our faults, we should make sure that our students understand that this is the greatest nation that ever was and the one that offers the most liberty and the greatest opportunity for all people.

•I oppose teaching Critical Race Theory in our public schools.

•Parents should always be welcome in our schools. They should have free access to view the books and teaching materials being used in their children’s classes.

•The Central school board should always welcome public comment and listen to the concerns of parents and other citizens.

I am for freedom of choice and will not comply with tyranny, mandates, or Woke culture.  Please vote for Jeannie Spell for Central School Board, Dist. 7.