By KEITH RYAN CARTWRIGHT
Rutherford County Schools
Kim Snell has been talking about and planning her retirement for the past two years, but that has not made her exit from Rutherford County Schools any easier.
After more than 14 years as the ATLAS liaison, Snell said, âThis has been my identity.â
ATLAS is a program that serves the academic and social needs of homeless or displaced students.
Through her role, Snellâs well known and well regarded as an advocate for more than 1,000 homeless students in the county.
âIâve always said I have the best job in the district,â Snell said. âEverything I did was helping somebody and Iâve been in it 14 and a half years, so Iâve really been able to kind of mold this job into my personality.â
Her retirement follows on the heels of her husband Mike Snell, who retired as the school districtâs transportation coordinator in June 2019. The couple plan to relocate to South Carolina, where they recently built a new home, so they can be closer to family.
The thought of spending more time with grandchildren brings excitement to what has been an otherwise sad process made strange by the unceremonious ending to the current school year because of health concerns related to the coronavirus pandemic.
âMy greatest concern for the kids that I serve has been their safety,â Snell said, âbecause many of them live in situations that are not safe.â
In recent weeks, the shutdown of schools has kept Snell busy coordinating between school nutrition and area churches and other charitable organizations that provide food to students for the weekends and trying to get food supplies into the community.
Snell said she has not been able to personally communicate with the roughly 1,125 ATLAS students enrolled in Rutherford County Schools.
Instead, sheâs been in constant contact with ATLAS reps for each of the schools and, in turn, they are each engaging the families of 50 to 10 students and families depending on their respective school enrollment numbers.
âIâm not sure what the next few weeks are going to look like,â said Snell, who anticipates there will be a deadline for applications regarding grant money, but in the meantime is helping her replacement, Jessica Johnson, transition from her previous role as counselor at Eagleville School to her new role as ATLAS liaison.
âSheâs going to be fabulous,â Snell said of Johnson. âShe has a heart for homeless kids.â
Johnson added, âKim has done an amazing job. I just want to be Kimâs shadow until sheâs gone just to try and get my head wrapped around it all. Itâs been a crazy week and Iâm still not really sleeping because Iâm waking up and writing stuff down and Iâm excited about the possibility.â
Johnson has worked as a counselor at Eagleville, Oakland High and Central Magnet after working 12 years as a social worker.
She sees her new ATLAS position a âcombining both worlds.â
âFor me, I can do my social work thing and help families and students get the resources they need to be successful,â Johnson said, âand still be with students and school counselors.â
She added, âIâm willing to do whatever it takes to be successful so our students are successful. Period.â
In the meantime, Johnson has been meeting with RCS staff and Snell has been going over processing forms, communicating with churches and charitable organizations, speaking opportunities and training personnel.
âI do feel like the poverty simulations are probably my legacy,â said Snell, who completed her 45th simulation on March 12 at Cedar Grove Elementary. âIâve taught more teachers to walk in somebody elseâs shoes and think about how they react to a parent or somebody whoâs going through a stressful time.
âThey donât have the lifetime of living in poverty.â
Learning to understand the growing homeless issue in Rutherford County is a passion Snell developed throughout her 14 years in the role at ATLAS Liaison.
And as much as sheâs looking forward to more time with family, she is no doubt going to miss helping an underserved and overlooked portion of the local community.
âItâs bittersweet,â concluded Snell, who was driven to help others. âThatâs what kept me going.â
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