Jodi Riggins: Great communities= Great schools

Jodi Riggins: Great communities= Great schools Contact information, map and directions, contact form, opening hours, services, ratings, photos, videos and announcements from Jodi Riggins: Great communities= Great schools, 1303 Davis Drive NW, Cleveland, TN.

My platform, Great Schools are the results of a Great Community and a Great Community is a result of Great Schools, rests on three fundamental principles: Respect, Responsibility, and Relevance.

08/08/2026

Happy Weekend!!! I have been out picking up my campaign signs the last two mornings!! Thanks to all of you that pulled the signs in your yards for me! If I have missed a sign in your yard or if you would like me to pick one up that you have removed, please let me know. If you want to dispose of it yourself, that is ok. Thank you once again for your tremendous support!! Go blue raiders! (that first football game will be soon!)

08/07/2026

Thank You!

The people who voted in District 5 have spoken and have chosen Mark Gravelle as their voice on the Cleveland City School Board. I sincerely congratulate Mark and wish him well. I believe we have a shared interest in seeing our public schools thrive. I will be doing what I can to support this effort by continuing to serve our community.

I am so grateful to everyone in District 5 for the pleasure and honor of serving you over the last four years, one of the joys of my life. I leave office with a full heart and the satisfaction of having done my very best to serve you. Though this campaign was long and arduous, in a very weird way I enjoyed meeting so many of you at your front doors in the Dog Days of summer. I will remember your graciousness and your humanity, even those who supported my opponent. I have no doubt that together we can make this community even better, kinder and more responsive. I honestly believe that the best way to nurture our schools is by doing right by our neighbors. Great schools are made possible by great communities. Likewise, we can’t have great communities without great schools.

In closing, I look forward to seeing you out and about and catching up on your families. When we meet, let’s drop the artificial color-coded labels that so easily divide us. After all, we’re neighbors and friends who have a vested interest in seeing each other succeed. However flawed and imperfect, we’re all Americans, people of the United States. As the Latin phrase (e pluribus unum) stamped on our money puts it, we’re the one of many. We are so much stronger together. May it be so.

Blessings to you and your families,
Jodi Riggins

08/04/2026

Last Minute Instructions
Some of you are still on the fence and might need encouragement to do your civic duty. Tonight my husband Gary wrote some directions that may be of some help (fences are uncomfortable). I know he is biased toward me, but I really do encourage you to take some of my “Old Roadie’s” advice and officially tell the entire city of Cleveland what you think. After all, you are the ones in control.
Thanks again for your support during my campaign. It’s been the joy of my life to serve you for the last four years. I hope to continue, but it is now time for you to speak.
Love and Blessings to You All,
Jodi Riggins

Voting Directions

America’s big old Democracy,
Has ordinary folks at its controls.
But you can’t be a backseat driver,
If you don’t show up at the polls.

If you want to register an opinion…
Take an ID and prove you’re alive.
Go to the High School, Ross, or Stuart.
They’re where you vote in District 5.

Polling places are North and South,
At least that’s what I was told.
But…if you see Santa or some penguins,
You’ve found the wrong pole.

So…find the right polling booth,
And a gracious Lady or Gent
Will happily explain the voting process…
And our Democracy’s intent.

Now if you need more guidance…
Take it from her old Roadie,
For School Board in District 5,
Hit the red button next to Jodi.

Gary “The Old Roadie” Riggins

08/01/2026

One More Important “Walking Lesson”

SAY “THANK YOU!” A LOT. It’s hard to do anything alone. Most of our big achievements in life and sports are team events. Even the famously “individual sports” like golf and running have dedicated professionals and specialists that make it all possible. Running a political campaign is no different. If I win or lose next Thursday, I have been given the opportunity to do something I could never do alone. Here’s a partial list of people who deserve a lot more than just my thanks.

WALKING COMPANIONS: With the help of Loes, Lena, Andi, Zoe, Ethan, Dan, Brenda, Bonnie, George and Suzanne, we have knocked on lots of doors in District 5 and handed out about 3,000 cards. I can’t find a word that’s big enough to express my deepest gratitude. None-the-less, Thank You!

THE CAMPAIGN TEAM helped me with strategy and supported me in every way, giving advice along the way. Special thanks to George, Dan, Lena, Loes, and Norm. Each brough a unique gift to the table and made me a better candidate.

CONTRIBUTORS made all of this possible with their gifts large and small. They bought signs, radio time, and cards that made this operation work. I am indebted to each of you. Thank you so much!

SUPPORTERS. To all of you who requested a sign in your yard, Thank You! You helped get the word out. I am so very grateful. To the many of you who read my thoughts and ideas online and left me kind words, Thank You! Your notes were so encouraging, a breath of fresh air when I really needed it. I’m blessed to know you. Bryan called a bunch of folks and reminded them to vote. What a great guy! Thanks!

NEIGHBORS. To all of you in District 5 who opened your doors and smiled at my team and me, Thanks! We all learned many lessons on kindness from you and we’re grateful to be your neighbors.

MY CLOSEST NEIGHBOR. Gary, my roommate and best friend, has been a faithful encourager, driver, water boy and co-writer and has kept me laughing through it all!!! Thank you!!

PRAYER PARTNERS: To my prayer partners who mentioned me and held me close, Thank You! You are the hands and feet of a living God. To paraphrase an old Lebanese poet, “If you would be a knower of God, be not therefore a solver of riddles, but look around you and see him smiling at you in the faces of your neighbors and waving at you in the branches of the trees.” You are a blessing in my life. Thank You!

07/30/2026

Early voting wraps up Saturday, August 1, and about a week later, Thursday, August 6th is Election Day. I am asking you all to exercise your civic duty and vote. Soon District 5 will have chosen its representative, and then the serious work of improving the educational experience of our children really begins. Whether from the inside or outside (depending on the election results), I believe my opponent and I are both committed to supporting Cleveland City Schools. Like both of us, our entire community has a vested interest in the success of our schools. For so many reasons, “Great Schools = Great Communities.” Schools and communities depend on each other; they rise and fall together. Consequently, let’s get out and vote like a great community.

Thanks!!

07/29/2026

Walking Lessons

In a few days, the citizens in District 5 will be choosing their representative to the Cleveland City School Board, a seat I’ve held for the last four years. I have visited and knocked on many doors in this district and talked with many of you. The reception at your front door was overwhelmingly positive and affirming, and I’m so grateful for the privilege of your time, however brief. I enjoyed listening to the issues on your mind, from curriculum choices to sports, to discipline, and of course, many things not related to this board election like housing affordability, grandkids, and people we know in common. Here’s a brief account of what I’ve learned walking your neighborhoods.

District 5 is HUGE. In general, it’s bounded by I-75 on one side and Keith Street on the other, and from 20th Street up to Anatole. Even in the dog days of summer, I’ve had no trouble getting my steps in. As a result, I’m a better person…well, at least a little bit healthier.

There are Patches of Beauty Everywhere. In every neighborhood I visited, I saw homes and apartments where it was obvious that the occupants took pride in their residence, and a few where they had surrendered to nature. Even in the most disadvantaged areas, there were flowers in some yards that brightened the neighborhood. In one apartment, it was obvious that the resident (like me) had no green thumb. In a spot by the front door left to Mother Nature’s whims was a sign that made me laugh—Free Weeds. Pick Your Choice. On the bright side, they’re probably “naturalists” who would argue that a w**d is just a flower out of place.

We Need Each Other. I met some lonely folks who just wanted to talk. Some invited me into their homes where I learned a lot about their lives and their families. They were retired teachers, nurses, housewives, and mechanics who needed someone who would simply show up and shut up. Both can be difficult, but they’re needful and uncomplicated helping skills any of us can do, even a candidate running for reelection. Civil conversations still exist. So let me encourage each of us to check in occasionally on our neighbors. As I have learned, all you have to do is knock on their door and smile. They’ll take it from there.

Kindness Doesn’t Have an Address. I was treated very kindly at the front doors of homes that could have been featured in Homes and Gardens and at other apartments and homes that might not. In every neighborhood, I generally felt welcomed and respected, with the rare exceptions of the “get off my lawn,” crowd. Overwhelmingly, Clevelanders are a kind and decent bunch who make our city proud!

It has been a real pleasure talking and listening with each of you. This experience has reaffirmed my belief in the hospitality and simple goodness of Americans. Thank You!

07/28/2026

Thinking Makes It So

In the heat of my campaign to retain my seat on the City School Board there seems to be some confusion in what I stand for and my fitness for the position. Here is who I am and why I am asking my neighbors in District 5 for their support.

I am the wife of a wonderful man (Gary) I married in 1971. Together, we have had opportunity to travel the world, serving in education, medical missions, and as conference speakers in over 20 countries. Along the way, we welcomed our children Zach and Andi, both of whom joined the family business as educators. They blessed us with a daughter-in-law (Loes) and a son-in-law (Matt), who in turn gave us three adorable grandchildren, all the light my life.

As the daughter of a career Air Force Officer who became a conservative minister upon his retirement, travel was not new to me. I went to four different high schools from California to Sturgis, South Dakota where I graduated. My parents then sent me Cleveland where I earned a Chemistry Degree from Lee University. I went on to become a Physician Assistant (PA), with a Master’s degree.

For the last 30 years of my career, I worked for Ocoee Regional Health Corporation and retired in 2023. I loved providing basic health care and advocating for poverty’s hidden victims in rural Tennessee. For that work, I was fortunate enough to win Tennessee’s Medical Provider of the Year in Rural Health. Serving folks in East Tennessee was one of the great times of fulfillment in my life.

Along with one of my heroes in medicine, Dr. Ron Coleman, I was blessed to be a part of the beginnings of the Good Samaritan Clinic. Together, we, my friend Ann Marie Brewer, and other volunteers provided free basic health care on Thursday evenings after work to Cleveland’s most at risk populations. I got to know some of this area’s best physicians and found them to be even better persons.

I think it was in my advocate role and my heart-felt religious obligation to help others that nurtured my public service desire. Serving on the school board is a way for me to give back to the community that has given so much to me, my family, and others. I know how important education is and how valuable an advocate on the inside is in the fight for your health or your child’s education. That’s why I am running.

I need to address my fitness to serve based on my political leanings. My values are not based on a party and we must be careful about assumptions. My opponent and I are both good citizens who want our community’s children to have access to a great education. Our political differences are not part of that equation. As I’ve said from the beginning, we do not have Republican schools or Democrat schools. We have public schools that serve everyone in this community. Schools are not, nor should they be, color coded. Institutions that require attendance, especially of the very young and most vulnerable, should not be places of indoctrination in either politics or religion. These are personal decisions and should be made and taught at home. America was founded by men and women who dared to differ with the king and enshrined that fundamental right in its Constitution.

In my professional career and in four years of service on the Board, I have had the opportunity to listen to the good folks around me of every stripe and persuasion. Among the many things I admire and respect about Dr. Coleman, and have adopted in my own life, is a desire to serve each and every person in our community regardless of party affiliation or any other defining categories. I do not think those labels have any bearing on my fitness to serve, as long as I keep personal opinions personal. However, I’ll buy the coffee and I’ll tell you what I think. More importantly I’d like to hear what you think.

Jodi Riggins
Candidate for Re-election to Cleveland City School Board

07/23/2026

Perspective Matters

Finding fault with public institutions is a popular and easy position to take, especially regarding our public schools. They’re an easy mark. We’ve all been there and can no doubt cite personal experiences with people on both sides of the teacher’s desk. We’ve learned that schools are full of real, live, squirming human beings capable of doing bad things and extraordinarily kind things. Like the rhythm of our hearts, we vacillate between highs and lows, good days and bad days. As we all know, and teachers particularly, there are times when the plan for the day works almost effortlessly, and there are other days (hopefully rare) when plans B, C, and D are ineffective. Such is life.

Taken together these experiences shape our opinions of what goes on in the schoolhouse and in our world. The feelings growing out of these experiences are real, and as William James once said, feelings are facts. If you “feel” like schools are good or bad or anywhere in between, no amount of rah-rahing on my part can change your opinion. The good news is that you get to choose how you feel…about school and everything else. As I said last week, believers know that our obligation is to look for “the fine good things in others (Philippians 4:8),” and I think that admonition extends to institutions like our schools. That may not change the world, but it can change your opinion. If you look for bad things you can find them; however, moms and dads and students know that there are overwhelming bits of good things going on in our schools.

Numbers mean nothing until we assign meaning to the measurement. What we read into them shapes private and public opinion. Here are some measurements from one of the world’s most reliable ways to compare schools across countries. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is a collection of the world’s most developed nations that share all kinds of data. Every three years their Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) compares 15-year old students in three subjects (Math, Reading, and Science) across 80 countries.

In the latest data set, the United States’ Composite score for our students in all three areas is 16th out of 80 countries. In Reading, our students were at the 92nd percentile in the world. In Science, only 9 countries scored higher than our students, and in Math, our worst subject, our students outperformed 43 of 80 nations. However, in the United States, where every child is tested regardless of his or her socioeconomic or health status, the bottom 10% of our lowest scoring students ranked 6th in a comparable group in other nations. Even in our worst subject, America’s most disadvantaged students are outperforming the majority of their peers.

So there is good and bad news in these numbers. We can choose to read the Composite scores (and all others) from a positive—our students beat 80% of the world—or negative point of view—15 other nations beat us. That choice shapes our opinions and our expectations. The success of our public schools matters to all of us. Regardless of how we look at these data, there is clearly work to do. However, instead of beating up the tired, dedicated troops on the front lines of the “chalk wars,” once in while we need stop and celebrate their accomplishments. That’s my perspective.

07/16/2026

Fine Good Things

In an old book I read, the writer offers some sound advice on how to get through life. In an optimistic tone, at the conclusion of his letter to some friends in Phillipi, the Apostle Paul wrote, “let me say this one more thing: Fix your thoughts on what is true and good and right…dwell on the fine, good things in others” (Philippians 4:8, The Living Bible). That optimistic creed is a wonderful way to organize an individual life. It’s also a sound piece of management advice for those of us leading imperfect but kind and decent men and women.

Fortunately for those of us who watch the dedicated men and women in the Cleveland City Schools, we don’t have to look too hard to find some good news in the amazing work they do with our children. They see past the rough exteriors and vulnerabilities of students and identify the unique and “fine, good thing in others.” Talents are often hidden or disguised, and it takes a real professional to find and nurture them. Boy, did they find them. Last year, Cleveland High students racked up over 8 million dollars in scholarships. These students will be our community’s doctors, accountants, mechanics, and welders and each will know the teacher’s name that set fire to his or her imagination. They all have stories of the teacher who changed the trajectory of their lives, who made the impossible possible.

Ordinary students who once walked the halls of Cleveland’s Public Schools have gone on to do extraordinary things. They’ve played professional sports, healed our sick, written our movies, defended us in court, created business empires, nursed our old folks, taught our children and fixed our cars. They (and we should) know the value Cleveland City Schools added to their lives. These local successes are rough indicators of general school performance and matter more than GPAs and ACTs. Unfortunately, they are not counted in any of our metrics.

The creative spark ignited by a free and equal public education is the foundation of American ingenuity. It is the engine that has driven impressive advancements in medicine, business, technology, and agricultural, the direct result of former American fifth graders who were inspired to dream. Fortunately, and thanks to Alfred Nobel, the world has figured out how to count these successes. The Nobel Prize, given annually since 1901, is awarded to the world’s difference makers. Of the 860 individuals (and 22 organizations) who won or shared a Nobel Prize (some multiple times), a whopping 428 (about 50% of the total) were American, products of our educational system. If you’re taking notes, that’s almost three times the total of the next country on the list, United Kingdom’s 145, and dwarfs the tenth country, Austria, with 25 Nobel Prizes. Over the last 125 years, these ultimate achievement awards seem to indicate what our local moms and dads have known all along, America’s public education is working. Now that’s something to “dwell on.”

07/11/2026

Be True to Your School

In my years as a medical provider, I learned the importance of collecting hard evidence before making a diagnosis. Over the last four years on the Cleveland City School Board, I have gathered firsthand data on the health of our public schools, and I’m pleased to report they are in good shape. Like any human body, there is always room for improvement. However, our schools are delivering on the promises of a free and equal education for all, often despite profoundly difficult economic and sociological disadvantages on the other side of the teacher’s desk that quality teaching can’t fix.

I have visited each of our schools and have met some of the most dedicated professionals I’ve ever known. On each campus I’ve watched the impressive men and women who “stand and deliver” at the front of the class, the aids who assist them, and the administrators and staff who support them. The good news is that schools are in decent shape. The even better news is the system has a strategic plan for continued improvement.

Unfortunately, we love the bad news. It spreads like a virus. After all, juicy tales of woe are a lot more fun to spread than good things. That seems to explain the 2025 Gallup Poll findings on opinions of public schools in general. When asked, “Overall, how satisfied are you with the quality of education students receive in kindergarten through grade 12 in the US?”, only 35% of adults were “Satisfied” while most (62%) were “Dissatisfied.” However, when asked about their “local” schools, i.e., “How satisfied are you with the education your child received?” there was a decidedly different view. Almost three quarters (74%) were “Satisfied,” and only 23% were “Dissatisfied.” We tend to be very skeptical about schools in general, but our judgment changes dramatically about the ones we know best (the one I or my child attended). If this sounds familiar, it is the philosophical position the Beach Boys advocated in “Be True to Your School.”

It seems to me that one way to change opinions about public schools is firsthand knowledge. If you are still skeptical, send me a note and I will personally take you to see the everyday miracles our educators pull off on a daily basis. They do this good work with every child regardless of his or her preparation, handicapping condition, or socioeconomic status. There is little wonder that these children’s parents think more highly of public education than those who lack that kind of primary evidence. They know good things are happening in our local schools. There is hard data to support this diagnosis. Let’s keep spreading the good news!!

Jodi Riggins
Candidate for Cleveland City School Board, District 5

Address

1303 Davis Drive NW
Cleveland, TN
37312

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