By Martie Thompson
editor@floridanewsline.com
Debbie Scarbrough came by her artistic talent honestly — her father was talented musically and at one point was country musician George Jones’ bass player. “My talent went more towards art,” she said. So she attended Austin Peay State University as an art major, but soon found that the fun was taken out of art for her. So she changed her major to education. Recruited directly out of college by Duval County Public Schools, she is celebrating 40 years of teaching. She and her husband of 30 years, Dwayne, have two grown daughters: Meagan, who works in the energy industry in Jupiter, Florida, and Alex, who is in graduate school at Valdosta State College to become a speech pathologist.
Q: How did you end up in Florida after going to school in Tennessee?
A: When I was graduating from Austin Peay, I interviewed with nearly every Florida county as well as a few in other states. I wanted to leave Tennessee. Even though I didn’t know a soul here, I took the job in Jacksonville because I could go home to Tennessee in a day. I moved to Arlington and taught at San Mateo. I then moved to Argyle and helped open Chimney Lakes Elementary.
Q: How did you meet your husband?
A: I met Dwayne when we were in the Jacksonville Jaycees together. He had moved here from Orlando. We were married in 1995.
Q: Why did you start working at Mandarin Oaks Elementary?
A: We bought a house in Mandarin and I didn’t want to drive across the Buckman Bridge from Argyle every day. We love Mandarin because it’s like a small community and reminds me of Hendersonville, Tennessee, where I grew up. I’ve now been at Mandarin Oaks for 30 years and I’ve taught every grade from kindergarten through fifth. Now I’m teaching the children of some of my first students! I became the art teacher about nine years ago when the school’s long-time art teacher retired.
Q: What do you like best about teaching?
A: God made me a caretaker. No matter what I’m teaching, I’m taking care of the children and I’m making a difference in their lives. At the end of the day, it’s very rewarding. Our family joke is we bet on how long it will be when we go somewhere until we run into someone that I taught. It’s usually only about 10 to 15 minutes.
Q: Tell us about the grant you recently received.
A: I was honored to be awarded the Cindy Edelman Excellence in Teaching Fellowship via the Jacksonville Public Education Fund. I submitted for adaptive art materials and special training with Zot Artz, which specializes in making art more accessible for ESE students. We’re excited that we’re having a Glow Art event with these classes in late April.
Q: What do you like to do in your spare time?
A: I love to read; last year I read 77 books. I also like to do jigsaw puzzles and go to Jumbo Shrimp games. For personal art, I do furniture refinishing. I like to take something old and repurpose it. One time, Dwayne went on a trip to visit one of our daughters and came home to find that I had refinished all of our bedroom furniture. He was fine with it; he’s a very supportive husband.
Photo courtesy Debbie Scarbrough
Debbie Scarbrough
