Uplifting Our Children Through Education Series with Jeremy R. Bennett
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Uplifting Our Children Through Education | Episode 4 | November 24, 2025
Championing K-12: Advocacy & Collaboration Between Boards of Supervisors and School Boards
In this episode of Uplifting Our Children Through Education, host Jeremy Bennett sits down with J.T. Kessler, a classroom teacher and longtime advocate for public education, to explore the essential partnerships that shape K-12 outcomes across Virginia. Drawing on his hands-on experience in both North Carolina and Virginia schools, J.T. offers a dual practitioner-advocate perspective on how boards of supervisors, school boards, and the broader school community can work together to advance student success.
Jeremy and J.T. discuss what effective K-12 advocacy looks like at the local and state levels, how communication between local governing bodies can strengthen funding and policy outcomes, and why collaboration remains critical as localities prepare for future General Assembly sessions. The conversation also examines shared priorities such as teacher recruitment and retention, school infrastructure, capital planning, equitable access for rural and low-wealth communities, and navigating Virginia’s education funding and regulatory landscape.
With a focus on practical strategies, lived classroom experience, and opportunities for joint advocacy, this episode highlights the importance of building strong relationships between school leaders, county officials, and community stakeholders to ensure every student has access to quality learning environments.
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Uplifting Our Children Through Education | Episode 3 | November 4, 2025
Prince Edward County, School Funding & Infrastructure; Honoring the Past – Building the Future
In this episode of the Uplifting Our Children Through Education series, host Jeremy R. Bennett sits down with three local leaders from Prince Edward County to explore the powerful intersection of history, policy and infrastructure in public education.
Joining Jeremy are:
- Douglas W. Stanley, County Administrator for Prince Edward County;
- Cainain Townsend, Executive Director of the Robert Russa Moton Museum and member of the Prince Edward County School Board; and
- Dr. Donald “Chip” Jones, Jr., Superintendent of Prince Edward County Public Schools.
Together they trace the legacy of Barbara Johns and the 1951 Moton School student protest, challenge the realities of aging school infrastructure in a rural locality, and dive into efforts to finance tomorrow’s learning environments — including recent state-legislative initiatives around local referenda, sales-tax options and the future of school-construction funding. Listeners will learn how the community is balancing heritage, equity and capital investment, and what it takes for counties like Prince Edward to uplift children through strategic partnerships and forward-looking planning.
- Prince Edward County Supervisor Jerry Townsend (right) and Prince Edward County Administrator Doug Stanley
- Prince Edward County Elementary School Rendering 1
- Prince Edward County Elementary School Rendering 2
- Prince Edward County Elementary School Photo 1
- Prince Edward County Elementary School Photo 2
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Uplifting Our Children Through Education | Episode 2 | September 11, 2025
Gloucester County and School Construction; When A Community Comes Together
Uplifting Our Children Through Education Episode 2 | Gloucester County and School Construction; When a Community Comes Together. In this episode of the Uplifting Our Children Through Education series, Host Jeremy Bennett sits down with County Administrator Carol Steele and Deputy County Administrator Maria Calloway of Gloucester County to discuss the county’s school construction journey—from the local sales-tax referendum to planning, community engagement, and delivering modern learning spaces. Hear how Gloucester aligned vision, funding, and partnerships to support student success and long-term community growth.
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Uplifting Our Children Through Education | Episode 1 | May 22, 2025
A Conversation with VACo Executive Director Dean Lynch
Uplifting Our Children Through Education Episode 1 | A Conversation with Dean Lynch. In this inaugural episode of the VACo County Pulse Podcast, Uplifting Our Children Through Education, host Jeremy Bennett sits down with VACo Executive Director Dean Lynch to discuss actions taken by the Governor and General Assembly during the 2025 legislative session. This includes a landmark achievement for Virginia’s counties: the functional elimination of the cap on K-12 support positions. This long-sought policy change, finalized in the General Assembly’s 2025 budget and supported by Governor Youngkin’s May 2 actions, restores $222.9 million in FY 2026 to local governments—funding that will now align with prevailing local staffing practices. The move marks the culmination of over 15 years of advocacy by VACo and its partners, addressing a funding gap that once exceeded $400 million and bringing state support for education staffing back to pre-Great Recession levels.
Virginia Association of Counties
Bennett and Lynch also explore other critical wins in the 2025 budget, including $53 million in new special education funding and $360 million in school construction grants. These investments reflect VACo’s broader commitment to equitable, well-resourced public education across the Commonwealth. Listeners will gain insight into how these budgetary victories were achieved, the collaborative efforts behind them, and what they mean for the future of Virginia’s counties and their schools.