Phyllis Dixon’s name will appear on the ballot in May. She officially qualified and will be seeking re-election to continue serving as Emanuel County Board of Education’s District 2 representative.
The Chronicle had a phone interview with Dixon about her campaign as an incumbent.
Although her work as a nurse practitioner may seem a ways apart from the education world, she explains there’s a connection there in that she simply enjoys caring for people—especially children. This, in a nutshell, is what motivated her to get involved in politics almost four years ago.
This same connection is why she wants to stay in office.
She is a native of Swainsboro and graduated from Swainsboro High in 1981. Since then, she has obtained various health-related degrees from Swainsboro Tech, Georgia Southern, and South University.
Her entire career has been spent in healthcare, and most of her rounds have been made locally, minus a stint working as a nurse when she and her husband moved to El Paso, Texas in the ‘80s. Sure enough, however, she returned home and has been working here ever since.
She calls her initial bid for a public office back in May 2018 a “God thing.”
Someone in her life encouraged her to run, and she ultimately decided to take the plunge, despite the timing coinciding with a hectic personal life on the tailend of finishing her master’s degree.
She qualified and entered the District 2 position unopposed. Since then, she has been pleased to be part of a board that works cohesively, especially with new superintendent Scotty Hattaway.
She is also glad to have been a part of local children getting to go back to in-person learning as she has personally witnessed how the pandemic has caused learning gaps.
Most of all, Dixon appreciates the opportunities she has been given to impact local children.
This extends to witnessing firsthand area townspeople (like Brandon Andrews, for example) who were once children in the local school system and have moved into leadership roles themselves.
When asked about her goals, if re-elected, Dixon said she wants to continue helping make decisions that will ultimately help local students catch up from the pandemic. She specifically calls herself, as her slogan says, “an advocate for student academic achievement.”
All of her children and grandchildren have attended public schools here, as did her husband, so remaining on the board of education and having the opportunity to assist in the decision-making for students here at home is especially close to her heart.
Still, she takes it one step further, expressing her commitment to teachers and staff inside area schools.
As for her decision to run for re-election, Dixon says there was never really one to be made. In her own words, she never took her hat out of the ring, and she didn’t see herself not running again.
Just like in 2018, she feels led by God in her call to public office. Specifically, she feels peace about her reasons for running and a calmness inside in regard to her ability to do the job of a BOE representative.
Anyone with questions about her campaign can reach her by email at phyllisdixon07@gmail.com.