By Toni Garrard Clay/AISD Communications Specialist
There are several diplomas on the walls of Athens ISD Assistant Superintendent Dr. Janie Sims’ office. One would expect as much behind the desk of an individual with a doctoral degree. But a single frame is set apart from the others. This one holds two diplomas, both awarded to Hughlene Henry — Dr. Sims’ beloved mother.
“She was a remarkable woman,” said Sims. The mother of six children, Hughlene Henry became a school teacher after earning her certification through a two-year program. Later, while working full-time in the classroom, raising six children and doting on her husband, Henry went on to earn a bachelor’s and a master’s degree.
“She was always in school,” said Sims. “Being the youngest, I remember spending many summers at the library of East Texas State University while she was in class. She finished her master’s degree when I was in high school.”
Sims grew up in Mesquite and made her mark on the family of eight as the most musically inclined of the bunch. She began taking piano lessons at the age of five, which continued into adulthood. She sang in the choir and in vocal competitions, and during her senior year of high school, Sims joined a contemporary Christian vocal group. When she started college, it was with the intent of becoming a music teacher.
Then everything changed. On Labor Day weekend, just at the beginning of her sophomore year, Sims’ parents were in a car wreck. “I knew the minute my sister came to tell me. I could see it in her face.” Her father, a hardworking paint and wallpaper contractor, survived. Her mother did not.
“It changed the whole trajectory of my life,” said Sims, who was 19 at the time. She struggled to finish that semester, then gave up. “I didn’t go back to school for years.”
In fact, it was eight years. Sims was working full-time as a legal assistant in the metroplex when she decided to give higher education another try. She met her future husband, Tom Sims, and he encouraged her to continue. “Tom sat me down and said, ‘You’ve got to do this. Nobody can ever take it away from you.’ He was right.”
Sims decided being a music teacher was no longer the best path for her, but she did want to teach. Over the next several years, while working full time, she earned a bachelor’s degree from Hardin-Simmons University. Her first foray into the classroom was teaching third grade in Abilene, and she loved it. “I had struggled so long to be a teacher, and when I got there it was so much more than I even thought it would be. It was a joy,” she said.
Not long after she began teaching full time, Sims and her husband renovated a property and opened a 37-person assisted living center in Abilene. “He took care of residents during the day while I taught, and we took care of them together at night. We slept there. We cooked. We cleaned. … We were so excited when we could finally hire an employee,” she recalled. After five years, they sold the facility in 2000 to a company out of Dallas and relocated to Athens, where Dr. Sims’ oldest sister lived.
Shortly after settling in, Sims was hired to teach at South Athens Elementary. She simultaneously began working toward a master’s degree in administration. Four years later, she earned her degree, was reassigned to Athens Intermediate School as assistant principal and began working on her superintendent’s certification. In 2005, she earned the certification and enrolled in the doctoral program at Stephen F. Austin State University. In 2006, she was named principal of Athens Intermediate School. In 2008, she was awarded a doctorate of education in educational leadership. After serving as AIS principal for five years, she made a few more moves within the district and then was named to her current position in 2013 by Superintendent Blake Stiles.
“She has been awesome in her role,” said Stiles. “Having Dr. Sims has been vital in accomplishing the gains we have over the past two years.”
For her part, Sims describes her working relationship with Stiles as one of the best she has experienced in her career. “We’re like minded in what we believe about leadership, having it be more collaborative than top-down,” she said. “We’ve worked really hard to bring our five campuses together to have a shared vision for the district.”
Since joining Athens ISD in 2000, Sims said she has seen remarkable gains made. “The technology has improved tremendously; we have so much more available to our teachers. Our facilities, even though we’re still not where we need to be, are much better and safer. … Our processes throughout the district, from evaluations to curriculum, have made great strides toward being streamlined,” she said. “But beyond any of those things, the strength of our school district and our community really comes down to the people. We have great people. I’ve seen that again and again during my years here.”
Not only has Sims witnessed improvements within the district, she’s been able to affect positive change in others. “You learn things about yourself,” she said. “I’ve learned it gives me great pleasure to identify talent and strengths in people and help them get to their next level of capability. It’s the best thing about what I do.”