Del Rio, Comstock women take the stage for new Shumla School leadership

October 13, 2007
By Bill Sontag
Feature Writer

Drawing from twin strengths of extraordinary talent and community commitment, Dr. Carolyn Boyd, founder and director of Shumla School, has selected two local women for key management positions at the unique educational institution in Comstock and desert campus above the Pecos River.

Boyd told LIVE! Wednesday (Oct. 10) that Jennifer Ramage, currently Del Rio Council for the Arts administrator, and Valerie Varner, now classroom behavior specialist, San Felipe Del Rio Consolidated Independent School District (SFDRCISD), will – as members of the Shumla School team – take the unique non-profit institution into a promising and rapidly expanding future.

Ramage will serve in a new role for Shumla as director of adult programs and an emerging archeological and anthropological research arm of the school which Boyd said will soon be announced in greater detail. Varner, a Del Rio native and Comstock resident, will direct current and burgeoning youth educational programs of Shumla School, focusing on elementary school students throughout the region.

“We couldn’t have asked for two better-qualified, more passionate candidates to appear just when we wanted to broaden the scope and enhance the caliber of leadership for which Shumla has already established a respected reputation,” said Boyd.

Ramage has run or provided oversight for the diverse programs of the Del Rio Council for the Arts at the historic Firehouse, 120 E. Garfield, since March 2006, including gallery exhibitions, classes, annual performance seasons, day-to-day operations and financial management. In less than two years, Ramage turned public perception around of an organization struggling to recover from past fiscal hurdles, in fact scaling some of those obstacles to put the organization back on firm ground with donors, supporters and the Texas Commission on the Arts.

Ramage roped in $59,000 in grants, $20,000 in value of in-kind services, a $25,000 allocation from the City of Del Rio to repair the Firehouse, an aging landmark and the city’s first (1922) municipal building, jail and fire station. Most recently, she and Del Rio attorney Jeffrey Mahl set out to fundraise for and incorporate the Philip Mahl Memorial Kitchen, a community cooking and teaching facility in memory of the classically-trained gourmet chef, son of Jeff and Ramona Mahl.

Ramage came to Del Rio with her husband, Capt. Ian Ramage, instructor pilot and flight commander, 84th Flying Training Squadron, Laughlin Air Force Base. Her previous experience – curator of education and director of marketing for the Museum of World Treasures, Wichita, Kan. – is underpinned by Ramage’s 2004 magna cum laude graduation with a Bachelor of Arts in anthropology and humanities from the University of Tennessee. She is within academic striking distance of completing a Master of Arts in anthropology from Wichita State University.

Ramage said initial goals for the new research focus at Shumla include support such as facilitating easy access to information and resources for incoming scholars. “I’ll be serving as a bridge between Shumla and international researchers and scholars that are arriving for investigations and working with our center here,” Ramage said, Wednesday (Oct. 11). She also sees easing fundraising, administrative and grant-writing pressures from Boyd as part of her responsibilities. “Hopefully, this will help Carolyn focus more attention on the two things she does best: Research and communicating the resource values uncovered with it,” Ramage said.

“This is my dream job, you know,” Ramage said. “That whole group up there, the employees, the board of directors, the volunteers, everybody who’s there is happy to be there. It’s that kind of environment – so many intelligent people are bouncing ideas off of each other, and they’re being pushed to be the best they can be. And it’s not just enthusiasm – there are brains behind it.”

Varner, a 1976 graduate of Del Rio High School, is also a 1980 recipient of a Bachelor of Science in recreation and leisure services administration at University of North Texas (UNT), Denton, and a 2007 Master of Education degree from Sul Ross University, Del Rio. For 15 years, she’s served in several capacities with SFDRCISD, chiefly revolving around special education and troubled children – she dislikes, but understands the term “at risk” – in behavioral management classes. Varner has had years of gratifying moments in this challenging field, but remembers well her jump into teaching behavioral skills.

“It was a self-contained class, and I had those kids all day long. But by the time I was done with them, they were ‘mainstreamed’ back into regular classes,” Varner said, Thursday (Oct. 11), recalling with obvious satisfaction the transformations in every student as a triumph for each of them.

Varner’s anticipation of similar gratification in her new position as Shumla School’s education director is keen. “The way I look at this is, I’m leaving the position I have [with SFDRCISD] to go to a place where we can actually implement some things that will help these kids even more,” Varner said.

Valerie Varner, behavior specialist, San Felipe Del Rio Consolidated Independent School District, takes over as education director at Shumla School in the first week of November. The Comstock resident looks forward to an easy stroll from home to her new office, but is thrilled with the prospect of making a difference in the lives of thousands of school children each year in different ways, but with the same dramatic results she has helped Del Rio kids during her 15-year tenure with the district. (LIVE! photo/Bill Sontag) (click image to enlarge)

Valerie Varner, left, confers with Missy Harrington, Shumla School curriculum director. The two women are old friends, and will now be colleagues and co-workers in the expansion and promulgation of a rigorous program of educational experiences for children. (Contributed photo/Angel Johnson) (click image to enlarge)

 

In a two-page essay submitted as part of her application for the Shumla position, Varner described her long-range goals and aspirations in relation to Shumla as a path toward attainment. “My passion and purpose, I believe, is to serve people in a way that will encourage them to strive to be the best they can be. When this is accomplished, it is passed on to another, and another. I have experienced many people who have given up on themselves, others, and society. This energizes me to find ways that might create hope for them – to help them connect to some meaning or purpose to life.”

Varner is a Comstock resident, and has two sons, Ryan, 21, and Rett, 20, respectively students at UNT and UT Arlington, both on sports scholarships. The family is the product of generations in local ranching, fuel sales and restaurant management, and Varner has no itch to leave. “I don’t see this new job as a stepping stone to something else. This was a huge decision, and I see it as a lifetime career,” said Varner.

Elton Prewitt, president of the Shumla School Board of Directors, was reached by LIVE! at his home in Austin, Thursday (Oct. 11), commending Boyd’s choices of Varner and Ramage for the new positions. “I just met the two of them Saturday [Oct. 6] at our regular quarterly board meeting, and needless to say I was favorably impressed with both of them,” Prewitt said.

“Valerie and Jennifer have the background and experience to make Shumla’s mission happen. The desire and drive that Carolyn looks for in people, we all share that vision. I believe that Jennifer and Val bring considerable talent, vitality and excitement to what Shumla does, and they will contribute positively and significantly to making our dream of Shumla a reality.”

For more information on Shumla School, see www.shumla.org

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