- November 15, 2024
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Jim and Laverne Guines in their Palm Coast home. Photo Jacque Estes
Jim Guines meets President Ronald Reagan. Courtesy photo
Jim Guines with author, Alex Haley. Courtesy photo
“Oh, the Places He Has Gone!,” could be a sequel to the Dr. Seuss book, “Oh, the Places You’ll Go” for Dr. Jim Guines. On Sunday, the Flagler Palm Coast High School cafeteria will be filled with people whose lives he has touched, telling stories and raising money for the scholarship fund that bears his and his wife’s name – the Jim and LaVerne Guines Scholarship Fund.
“That’s what I think we do in education, we transform kids – the great transformers happen to be us.” Dr. Jim Guines
Guines has been synonymous with education in Flagler County since the couple moved to Palm Coast in 1988, on the dais at school board meetings, and behind the barbecue grill at countless fundraisers. Smokin’ Jim was everywhere – and always thinking about the children.
Guines was a front runner in making sure each student had access to a computer with the Make It – Take It program.
“Of all of the good things I got into in Flagler County, the concept about computers and working with Veronica Maggs was the best,” he said. “I started something to make poor children computer equitable.”
Florida Hospital Flagler had barely opened its doors, and the third floor was unfinished, when Guines approached the hospital administration in search of a place to house the Make It – Take It program.
“It was the only school system in the country where a hospital – Florida Hospital Flagler – started a computer program,” he said. “What we didn’t know was, that laboratory would be the start of the premier of Flagler County Schools. It’s one of the best school systems in the country because the kids can get computers.”
The program changed the lives of most who were involved, including Veronica Maggs, who was asked to volunteer her time to run the program, and even drive the Make It – Take It bus.
“He is a true example of how one person’s actions can literally change thousands of lives” Maggs said. “He changed my life. I had never volunteered for anything until I met Jim, and then I realized the benefit of helping others.”
Throughout his life, Guines has never strayed from the educational field. It has always been a top priority as a college professor at various schools including Georgetown University, and assistant superintendent in the District of Columbia schools.
Three years ago he founded the African-American Mentor program with then school superintendent Bill Delbrugge and John Winston. Winston is the chairman and president of the program.
“It was Jim’s idea, he founded it, and when he got sick he turned it over to us and told us to go for it,” Winston said. “LaVerne and Jim are like my family. These are two phenomenal people who God has touched in a special way.”
His body may be confined to a wheelchair, but his mind is still very active. Using voice recognition software, Guines is authoring a book based on a curriculum program he introduced when he was assistant superintendent in the District of Columbia School system – “The Competency Based Curriculum.”
It isn’t the first book he has written. In 1968 he wrote and published, “The Great Transformer,” a book for children.
“That’s what I think we do in education, we transform kids – the great transformers happen to be us.”
School Board Chairman Colleen Conklin has one of those books from when she sat on the school board with Guines. It was a time when, she admits, they didn’t always see eye to eye.
“We butted heads, but we also collaborated on many things,” Conklin said. “Jim taught me a lot. He took it upon himself to ‘school me,’ you might say. I’ve definitely learned how to be a Johnny Appleseed and plant ideas and hope they grow – no matter who gets the credit.”
In his office Guines has photos of himself with various internationally known individuals including President Ronald Reagan and “Roots” author Alex Haley, people he met during his travels for education.
“He is truly a trailblazer, during the civil rights, and what he has accomplished in his life,” Conklin said. “He’s also truly a champion of the children in my mind, and he’s not done yet, he is still blazing trails and making education better.”
