September 22, 2016
By KEITH RYAN CARTWRIGHT
Rutherford County Schools
The late Florence McFerrin was an extraordinary woman.
It wasn’t that she lived to be 98.
It wasn’t even as simple as spending a career in education.
Her greatest impact came from the influence she had on students outside of her classroom. In class, yes, she was determined to see her students reach their full potential, but her gift was the resounding effect years later, on lives of many, including Rutherford County Schools
newly-selected Board Chairman Jeff Jordan.
Jordan recalled McFerrin going above and beyond in trying to make sure he understood algebra. He then joked he might have failed her unyielding effort, but, of course, she passed him.
“She absolutely would not give up on a student,” Jordan said, “and I’ve always tried to follow that. I’m not certain I’ve always done that, but I sure tried to.”
Though Jordan never realized it at the time, McFerrin influenced his career choice and ultimately shaped the kind of teacher Jordan would become years after he graduated from Central High School in 1962.
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The Jordan’s were a “strictly middleclass” family.
His father worked the same job to support his family, while mother stayed home and raised him and his sister. Through his eyes, Jordan saw a much different Rutherford County than the one we live in today.
“When I was a boy growing up on Bell Street, I could look across Ewing Avenue, and I could see cows grazing,” Jordan recalled. “Literally just a hundred yards away.”
That’s obviously no longer the case for one of the fastest growing counties in Tennessee. Agriculture is no longer the most prominent industry in Rutherford County.
Back in the 50s, Jordan and his sister attended what is now called Homer Pittard Campus School before transferring out to Rockvale and then eventually attending Central High School.
At Central, reading was among his interests, but Jordan said he didn’t take his studies seriously until he was in college.
Thankfully his parents, Edwin and Velma Jordan, stressed the importance of education.
“I was very lucky Middle Tennessee State University was here,” Jordan said. “Had I had to go off somewhere I doubt seriously I would have done it. I doubt seriously my parents could have afforded it. It would have been a real sacrifice.”
He added, “If I had to go 100 miles away or something it wouldn’t have worked.”
He earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree, and with some sacrifice, a newly married Jordan enrolled in night classes and Saturdays to earn an additional 45 hours of course work over a period of time stretching from 1962 to ’81.
“I’m not ashamed to say it, I needed the money,” said Jordan, who along with his wife Daune have two daughters, Gina and Renee. “I mean, my family needed the money. My wife was working and so I dropped everything but the teaching career.”
Though he hadn’t always planned on it, he was headlong into a teaching career that would one day lead to his becoming an assistant principal. His interest in pursuing education came from the inspiring Dr. Aubrey Mosley, who is still a professor at MTSU.
Jordan enjoyed school.
As a student, he eventually enjoyed everything about learning.
As a teacher, he enjoyed the atmosphere.
Jordan was with Rutherford County Schools as a geography and English teacher and later as an assistant principal for 31 years before retiring in 2000.
“I’m a strong supporter of public education,” he said.
To say the least.
He’s a former member of the Read to Succeed and One Book Committee. He’s a member of the Rutherford County Retired Teachers Association, and in 2016, he received the Friend of Education Award from the Rutherford Education Association.
He’s a member of the Blue Raiders Athletic Association, Carter Center, Books from Birth program, a Special Olympics partner and was inducted into the Riverdale High School girl’s basketball Hall of Fame as a contributor to the program.
As a second act, of sorts, Jordan served on the County Commission from 2006 to 2014, where he spent eight years on the Health & Education Committee.
Jordan, who was the committee chairman for several years, said he never had any illusions of being on the school board prior to being appointed by the commission to fill an unexpired term after David Nipper resigned when he was elected to the County Commission.
Nipper had two years remaining on his four-year school board term, which Jordan fulfilled and then sought re-election earlier this year.
His place on the RCS Board of Education is now a third act and is the climax of a story in which one man’s passion led to a career working on behalf of not only his daughters and his students, but all of the students enrolled in RCS.
With the district growing by roughly 1,100 students each year and projections indicating continued growth for the next 10-15 years, Jordan is focused on ensuring the board and the schools are able to continue meeting the needs of its student population.
“We’ve all got a stake in education,” said Jordan, who has 70 years of roots in Rutherford County but is steadfastly focused on the future. “That’s where we’re going to spend the rest of our time.
“All of us owe a debt to help the next generation and the one after.”