Robert Ensley entered kindergarten at Epworth Elementary School in 1979 at the age of 5. Fannin schools have been his family ever since.
January 31, after 45 years of almost constant contact with that family, Ensley will retire from his post as the school system’s director of Transportation to begin a new chapter in his life.
He begins that chapter with plans of vacations, hunting, fishing, visiting family and enjoying life. But most importantly, “I’m excited to see what God has planned for me,” he said.
Ensley admitted turning life’s retirement page is “a little scary” as he talked of the school family that “will always be family.”
After graduating from Fannin County High School in 1991, Ensley went off to college. Those would be the only years away from his Fannin family. But even then, he returned to do observations at the high school.
He came home and taught 12 years at Fannin High. His next move would be to serve as assistant principal at Fannin Middle School for two years before moving to West Fannin Elementary where he would be principal for seven years.
The system’s central office was his next stop, where he described the work he did as “a plethora of things.”
Looking back, Ensley has seen huge changes in technology – the biggest changes the system has experienced.
He remembers when Lonnie Cole brought the first computer into his classroom and set up his email.
Learning to use his first Smartboard was a challenge in itself.
Ensley drove to Athens to gather the research he needed for his senior English paper in Sandra Mercier’s class. After he began teaching, the internet came along and the same research could be done with a few key strokes.
Nowadays, every classroom has a Smartboard, snow days can be transformed into Virtual Learning days, Chromebooks are in every students’ hands, and school buses have Wifi so students can work while on long trips. The list of technological advancements seems almost never ending.
But one thing that has not changed are the kids. “Kids are still kids,” Ensley said. Remembering the kids he came in contact with, and the relationships he had with them, brings a huge smile to his face.
He talked of seeing kids in fourth and fifth grade when he was an elementary principal, watching them graduate high school, and then seeing them come home to teach in the Fannin County School System.
There’s an awesome feeling when you get to recommend a former student to the school board for a position in the schools, Ensley said. “I always believed in our kids. If we can’t hire our own, what are we saying about our kids?,” he asked.
Ensley saw no real miracle in seeing such achievements happen in young people.
“When you treat kids with respect, they’re going to respect you back. It’s amazing to see where kids go,” he said.
Over the years, students who passed through his classroom or schools have become doctors, lawyers, pharmacists and have excelled in finance and Career, Technical and Agriculture Education (CTAE) programs, he said.
Despite those accomplishments, a letter he received recently from a former student telling him, “You were my favorite teacher,” stood out as a favorite memory. “It’s all about relationships,” he said.
And just as he will miss those daily relationships, others will miss him.
School Superintendent Shannon Dillard-Miller spoke highly of Ensley.
The two were principals and later directors in the central office together.
“His heart has always been for our kids first,” she said. “I’ve truly enjoyed working with Robert and have always appreciated his dedication and loyalty to our children, the people he worked with and the school system. He’ll be greatly missed.”
Last Thursday afternoon, as he talked of retirement, Ensley was continuing that loyalty to the very last day. He was telling how he’d be setting his alarm clock for the very early hours of the morning, around 3 a.m., to begin checking on roads to make sure they were safe for school Friday. Virtually every inch would be inspected by administrators.
But is wasn’t so much the school buses Ensley worried about. “My drivers are professionals,” he said.
Kids were his concern. “They think they’re invincible,” he said. He was going to do his est to make sure they were safe.
Ensley has followed his principle belief that he would ask anyone to do anything he wouldn’t do himself. He also believed in leaving everything better when he left than when he arrived. Those who have worked with him or merely seen his work know he accomplished both.
Ensley summed up his “life” in Fannin schools, saying, “The good Lord has blessed me tremendously,” Ensley said.
But his family won’t be far away. His staff at the transportation department was quick to poke fun last week, talking about how he is leaving after getting everything running like clockwork in the new facility. Ensley said he would be only a phone call away if anyone needed help.
The bus drivers who make up the “breakfast club,” have asked him to join their group. “I think I’m going to do that,” he said.