Rachel Rhodes, Logan Thurmond and Paige Elrod
By Lorrie Ross
Staff Writer
When Clay County Schools returned to campus this week, there were three new teachers ready to greet students. Hayesville Middle School has two of the new teachers, while one teaches at Hayesville High School. First, we will meet the new high school teacher, Rachel Rhodes.
Not only is Rhodes a tenth grade English teacher, she also teaches journalism and will be the new yearbook advisor. Prior to joining the HHS staff, Rhodes taught dual-enrollment English classes for Tri-County Community College at Hayesville High School. Plus, she worked on the TCCC campus in the writing lab while she was earning her Master’s degree in English from Gardner-Webb University.
Raised in greater Atlanta, Rhodes moved to the mountains almost seven years ago. “I have been coming up to Hayesville to visit my grandparents since I was six,” she said. “I have come to cherish the small-town vibe of Hayesville.”
Teaching the dual-enrollment classes at HHS helped familiarize her with the Clay Schools community. “I’m looking forward to fully being a part of the school’s culture,” she said. “ So far, I’m impressed with the students I met at the open house last week and I can’t wait to get to know them better, build strong teacher-student relationships and hopefully give them a little more appreciation for the literary field.”
Rhodes’ background is in retail and interior design. “So working with the public is not new to me,” she explained. “I love the social interactions.” Yet she always felt drawn to teach. “When I went back to school to do so, I felt drawn to the high school and early college level,” she explained. “These are the students on the cusp of their careers and the rest of their lives and after some years of life experience, I recognize the importance academic writing can have on professional careers, regardless of the field. I also appreciate the lessons we can learn from literature and authors of the past and present and I enjoy teaching students how they can interpret these lessons in material they read, both academically and leisurely.”
In her spare time, Rhodes enjoys reading, along with spending time with her daughter and their dog. “The smaller school size is so different from what I grew up in, but the connections you make here are also so much stronger,” Rhodes added. “I have a daughter starting fourth grade this year and it’s exciting to watch her grow up in this community. I guess you could say I get to live vicariously through her in that respect.”
Hayesville High School Principal Stacey Overlin commended Rhodes. “We are pleased to welcome Ms. Rachel Rhodes to our English faculty this year at HHS,” he said. “Rachel is very excited to be teaching 10th grade English as well as our yearbook and journalism classes and has hit the ground running.”
Hayesville Middle School’s new seventh grade Social Studies teacher, Logan Thurmond, actually started teaching at Clay Schools in March. The Clay County native was raised on Shooting Creek and is a Hayesville alum himself, who graduated from Young Harris College with a Bachelor of Arts in History.
While he has not worked in education before, he chose teaching for another reason. “I wanted to share my passion for history with others,” he explained. “I also wanted to be an integral part in helping the young people of this community grow and become the best that they can be.”
When asked why he chose to teach middle school, Thurmond replied, “I want to teach middle school because I feel like it is where I am needed most,” he said, adding, “Some of these kids need a positive male role model in their lives and I hope to be that person for them.
For the upcoming school year, he is most looking forward to meeting his new students and building connections with them.
He and his wife, Chloe, have a 20 month old daughter named Piper and are expecting Penelope, another daughter, in a few weeks. In addition,Thurmond comes from a teaching family. “Mom and my sister are both educators as well, so I guess you could say I joined the family business,” he smiled.
The other new Hayesville Middle School teacher, Paige Elrod, is also a Hayesville High School grad. The first year teacher will be joining the HMS staff as a sixth grade math teacher
“I am very excited to start this journey with Clay County Schools,” she said. She moved to Clay County 15 years ago and graduated from HHS in 2020. She later received her college degree from Western Carolina University.
“I have always wanted to work with children and teaching is the perfect way to work with children and inspire their minds to grow,” she said. “I completed my student teaching in fifth grade and decided that fifth through eighth grade students were the age range of students I tend to work well with.”
What is she most looking forward to in the upcoming school year? “All the excitement and fun I plan to bring into the math classroom,” she laughed.
Elrod also has some family nearby. “My family lives scattered about, but my mother and my sister live locally I am happy to be the aunt of four sweet babies — two nieces and two nephews.”
Hayesville Middle School Principal Tiffany Clapsaddle is happy to have the new teachers at her school. “We are excited to have both Logan and Paige on staff,” she said. “They are both graduates of Hayesville High School and will be assets to HMS with our academic and athletic programs.”