Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Editor’s note: This is the sixth in a series of six articles, each highlighting one of the 2024 inductees to the Franklin Community Wall of Excellence.

The Franklin Community Wall of Excellence gained six new names via its 2024 class.

Those names included Dr. Chiquita L. Seaborne, Daniel T. Balfour, Dr. Amy K. Cheatham, James P. Councill III, Wyatt B. Durrette Jr. and the late Charles “Chip” Fisher Kingery Jr.

The eighth annual Franklin Community Wall of Excellence Induction Dinner and Ceremony took place Saturday, Oct. 26, at the Cypress Cove Country Club.

As noted in the event’s program, through the vision of some local Franklin City Public Schools alumni and school personnel, the Franklin Community Wall of Excellence Inc. was established in 2016 as a program to honor former Franklin and Hayden high school students, administrators, teachers and staff who have excelled or distinguished themselves through personal and/or professional success, as well as to recognize those community members who have made significant contributions to the public schools in Franklin.

“The Wall” is located at Franklin High School, adjacent to the gymnasium, a Wall of Excellence news release stated. Names and photos of each inductee are displayed for generations of Franklin High School students and community members to see as they walk by on their way to class or an event at FHS.

CHIQUITA L. SEABORNE

Seaborne was inducted onto the Wall of Excellence in the category of Outstanding Career.

Brian Hedgepeth, who is vice president of the Franklin Community Wall of Excellence Board of Directors, noted that Seaborne grew up in the community and then returned and made a positive impact.

“She has dedicated her life to a career in education,” he said. “She’s extremely knowledgeable in all areas of special education and has worked to improve all aspects of student performance. You’ll see that she is highly educated, and she still has a lot of years to have many more successes.”

Formally introducing Seaborne was Chaquita Kindred.

“This is definitely a proud moment,” Kindred said. “She is one of the youngest inductees tonight, and she is not just a proud member of the FHS Class of ’95, but she’s also a dedicated mother of two beautiful babies.”

Kindred noted that she and Seaborne grew up in neighboring communities in Franklin, with Seaborne living in what was formerly known as Suburban Gardens.

Kindred said Seaborne will be celebrating 30 years since her high school graduation in 2025, she is now a veteran educator of 20 years.

“Dr. Seaborne’s academic journey is truly impressive,” Kindred said. “Her journey began advocating for individuals with special needs and their families right here in her own hometown at FHS, and now she is using that same goal and that passion at Virginia Department of Education.”

The induction dinner and ceremony printed program included a brief biography of Seaborne in which Wall of Excellence officials shared the following information.

Seaborne is currently employed at the VDOE as a family engagement specialist/special projects coordinator, providing support with family engagement initiatives across the state.

Prior to that, she worked for the York County School Division as the coordinator of student services-secondary transition, exploring and implementing innovative practices that improved the outcomes for students with disabilities. She both created and led the school division’s first Youth and Family Summit in collaboration with staff from Old Dominion University’s Training and Technical Assistance Center and the VDOE’s I’m Determined Project.

“She is knowledgeable in all areas of special education, but she has an intense passion for secondary transition services and engaging families in the special education process,” Wall of Excellence officials stated in the program.

The biography noted that she has served in various roles prior to her current position.

For Franklin City Public Schools, she served as the coordinator of secondary instruction, consistently monitoring and evaluating the division’s instructional practices. She provided professional development to staff members and facilitated weekly professional learning communities with teachers.

“Dr. Seaborne utilized her exceptional oral communication skills to train teachers in using instructional strategies to improve student performance,” Wall of Excellence officials stated.

The biography highlighted how Seaborne was afforded the opportunity to present at an I’m Determined conference at the College of William and Mary. Her proposal, titled “N.C.I.S. at the Middle School,” was accepted and presented at the Williamsburg-based National Division on Career Development and Transition Conference.

“Dr. Seaborne understands the value of continued research to improve educational practices,” Wall of Excellence officials stated.

The biography noted that her previous research includes topics like “How transition professionals are effectively engaging parents in a low-income school division.” Exploring non-traditional methods of evaluating family engagement is the aim of her current research.

“Having a passion for life-long learning further propels Dr. Seaborne to seek avenues that afford opportunities to broaden her knowledge,” Wall of Excellence officials said.

The biography in the printed program explained that she earned a Master of Arts degree in secondary transition from George Washington University; a Master of Arts degree in educational leadership and administration from Hampton University; and a Ph.D. in education management from Hampton University.

Kindred noted that Seaborne truly pushed through multiple challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic, in the course of earning her doctoral degree.

Kindred was able to listen in as Seaborne defended her dissertation.

“I was just listening to all the questions the committee kept asking, and I was just crying and crying because I was proud, but at the same time I had mixed emotions because I was feeling frustrated,” she said. “I was like, ‘Why do they keep drilling her, asking her all these questions? Just give it to her already! She’s got it! She did her research.’”

Kindred later added, “Even through all the drilling and all of that, she made that mark, and she earned her Ph.D., so I was very proud of her.”

Seaborne’s biography in the printed program added that she has completed the VDOE’s Aspiring Special Education Leaders Cohort for 2015-16, and she also serves as the membership co-chair for the Virginia Division on Career Development and Transition.

Kindred said, “Beyond her professional accomplishments, she is also a valued member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, she’s a board member for Down the Middle Foundation in Franklin, and she was a previous board member for Franklin-Southampton (Area) United Way where she continued to serve the community with passion and dedication.”

Kindred asked those present at the induction ceremony to join her in welcoming Seaborne to the podium.

Near the beginning of her acceptance speech, Seaborne said, “It is truly an honor to be recognized by the community that reminds me there’s no place like home. I get asked all the time, ‘When are you going to move closer to the job? What are you going to do? What is in Franklin? I say, ‘Franklin is home, and the commute is not so bad.’”

She noted that from Hayden High School to Franklin High School, “that’s my family’s legacy. That’s us, that’s who we are.”

She explained that in her remarks, she first wanted to recognize a few of the individuals who have supported her along the way, and she noted that many of those individuals were present for the ceremony.

“First, my mom, believing the wildest dream ever for our family that I could be the very first person to graduate from college,” she said. “She sacrificed a lot to help me to attend Virginia Union University.”

Seaborne noted having been provided a foundation where she knew that one day, she was going to have a Ph.D.

“I had no idea what it meant,” she said. “I had never seen a dissertation defense, right? Just like my family had not until I defended. I didn’t know what it entailed, I just knew that that was going to be a dream. So thank you, Mom, I appreciate all the sacrifices that you’ve made.”

Next, Seaborne recognized her children, Malik and Makya.

“They, throughout this journey, have been the absolute best children I could ever ask for,” she said. “I am definitely thankful for them. And so without their support, I probably wouldn’t be here today as well.

“My sister’s over there, she is one of my biggest cheerleaders,” Seaborne continued. “I am the baby of the family, OK, and with that comes a lot of things, and that means that everybody’s always looking out for me. So I do like that.”

Seaborne highlighted her extended family, indicating that the support of those relatives “has been absolutely amazing.”

She pointed out that many of her friends have been with her since high school, and she credited them with pushing her to reach her goals on days when she needed it.

“Dennis, who was actually my ODU mentor, is here tonight,” she said. “He wrote one of the most amazing letters of recommendation for my son to receive the Gates Scholarship. What that means, if you’re not familiar with it — my son’s education was fully paid for. What that did for me was open the door for me to be able to get my Ph.D., because I wouldn’t have been able to do that.”

She later said, “For those of you that I didn’t call you out, just know I really do appreciate (you).

“But lastly, my 92-year-old grandmother is here tonight,” she added, noting that her grandmother had never been to a country club before.

Seaborne stated that her own life’s journey has not followed a traditional path.

She said she and her friends grew up in areas that were called “the projects” back in the 1980s and 1990s.

She recalled her mom watching her to make sure she got to school safely as a young child.

“Little did I know that foundation that I received at S.P. Morton would actually propel me into a life of service, but that’s exactly what it did,” Seaborne said. “All of those report cards with the comments that said I talk way too much are reminders of my teachers moving me about the classroom, but it yielded the same result — I still found people to talk to, right? I was very inquisitive, I wanted to know, and I do want to apologize to those teachers.”

She said that as she continued her path through Franklin City Public Schools, she had amazing teachers who understood that her mother worked up to three jobs at one time.

“She had to do that as a single parent, but those teachers never lowered their expectations of me,” Seaborne said. “That’s empathy, not sympathy.”

She said they did not have the “pull yourself up by the bootstraps” mentality because they understood that not all students and families had the symbolic boots that went along with that.

“But what they did was say, ‘What supports do you need?’ and provided those supports for me,” she said. “Mrs. Linda Soucek — she often reminded me that education is the great leveler. That quote stuck with me, and I understood that I could make my educational dreams come true if only I had the supports.”

Seaborne proudly says that she graduated from Franklin High School because Franklin High School has produced amazing scholars.

She then moved forward in time to when she became an employee with FCPS.

“I would be remiss if I did not recognize Mr. Sam Jones,” she said. “Mr. Jones served as principal. He interviewed me in 2006. Immediately he said, ‘Of course I’ll bring you on board. You can help us with the little darlings.’ And it was wonderful to work for him, and then along came (current FHS Principal) Travis (Felts).”

Seaborne said that as an employee with visions of enacting new initiatives in the school division, “I would ask Travis for all of these wonderful things. I would say, ‘Mr. Felts, can I do this?’ He’d say, ‘You can, yeah, uh-huh, I like it, I like it.’ So he actually contributed to me having these wild dreams of being able to do all the things that I wanted to. So in FCPS under Travis’ leadership, I served as special education teacher, case manager, adult GED teacher, transition coach, coordinator of secondary instruction, and then we went out on a limb and opened something that was called Open Campus.”

Seaborne said that when she is traveling the state helping families in her current job with the VDOE, she often reflects on her experiences with FCPS, and it helped her understand why this Wall of Excellence honor that her friends nominated her for was so especially important to them.

“It was so important for my friends because representation matters,” she said. 

She recalled the precedents she established for her friends and family with her academic successes growing up.

“They needed to see and know that it’s possible,” she said. “With the foundation that we had, they needed to see that me, the young girl from Suburban Gardens who grew up in poverty, was able to do these things, and that’s why this was so important to them, and now I truly understand that.

“So with the goal of education being the great leveler, I also keep in mind being the first person in my family to graduate from college and my long-term goal of completing my doctoral studies, how it impacted my family,” she continued. “Since college graduation, there have been numerous degrees in my family, including my sister, who recently graduated with a master’s degree.

Seaborne’s daughter completed her studies at Old Dominion University, and her son graduated from the University of Virginia with undergraduate and graduate degrees, and he is now working on his doctoral studies at Virginia Commonwealth University.

“So there is no way that anyone can say that education does not change the trajectory of a family, because I’m living proof,” Seaborne said. 

“So tonight, this honor is for me, and I am truly thankful for that,” she said in conclusion. “But it is also for all of those young children growing up in non-traditional homes; those teachers trying to keep them motivated every day and understanding how difficult that is; my family who never gave up on me, even when I didn’t make the best choices sometimes — remember that frontal lobe that I taught my children about is not fully developed until age 25…; all of my friends; my Aunt Linda Everett Hill, who played basketball for Franklin High School, would not have missed this if she were living today, so this is definitely for her; and my 92-year-old grandmother who’s over there … who never imagined that she would ever have a seat at the country club. 

“Again, thank you all so much,” Seaborne said to everyone present at the ceremony. “I appreciate you, and again, I’m beyond thankful.”