Above: Tami Culver, president of the Dothan Education Foundation. (Karim Shamsi-Basha/Alabama NewsCenter)

Alabama Bright Lights: Tami Culver of the Dothan Education Foundation from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.

He is not your average Joe.

Joe Grubbs with Tami Culver. (contributed)

Joe Grubbs was a fifth-grader picked by Tami Culver to assume her responsibilities as the president of the Dothan Education Foundation for a day. It was a project she did in cooperation with the City of Dothan to give a student a taste of local government.

Culver vividly remembers that day.

“I picked him up and he was dressed in a three-piece suit. He was full of pride and energy,” she said. “We went over the agenda and met my staff, then went to the TV station. He captured everyone. Then we went to the Houston County Commission on the sixth floor. Joe was like, ‘Wow! You can see the whole city.’ We told him that this was his home. We took pictures, and he met the mayor and the Chamber of Commerce staff. I am pretty sure we changed a life that day.”

Culver is in the life-changing business.

Chris Havely, meteorologist with WTVY in Dothan, with Joe Grubbs. (contributed)

As the president of the Dothan Education Foundation, Culver acts as a liaison between the community and public education. The foundation’s main belief is that a strong education system leads to a strong community.

“The foundation was established in 1996, giving grants to teachers, providing unique learning opportunities, and making sure the students have what they need, including iPads in the classroom,” Culver said. “One of the foundation’s goals is that the students achieve what is needed to succeed in life, and that local businesses teach them how to be engaged and productive citizens. This community is wonderful and supportive.”

On a personal level, Culver considers public education at the core of her existence. She understands the value of a great school system. She loves to look into the eyes of students and see who she is working for. And she aspires for those students to grow up and enter the workforce and make their dreams come true.

“My ultimate goal is to engage the community and the schools to where they help each other,” she said. “At one time, students sold pink chains for breast cancer and raised over a thousand dollars. At the same time, I make sure the community is reciprocating and doing everything they can for the schools.”

Tami Culver interacts with students. (Karim Shamsi-Basha/Alabama NewsCenter)

That brings us back to Joe Grubbs. Culver says the Dothan school system has 9,300 students. To her, everyone is a “Joe.”

“Every desk in the classroom has a mission and every child that sits in that desk has a dream and a vision,” Culver said. “At the end of the day, we work hard to make those dreams and visions attainable. With the community behind us, there is nothing we can’t do.”

Tami Culver holds a picture of Joe Grubbs. (Karim Shamsi-Basha/Alabama NewsCenter)

She loves the fact that she works for all the Joes in the Dothan public school system, and she makes that mission of attaining those dreams a reality.

“I feel my purpose is being accomplished,” Culver said. “I grew up in this community, and I want it to succeed.”

Being with Tami Culver for the day reminds one of what can be great about this state. Her passion, along with the passion of teachers who pour their lives into their students, comes through and ultimately changes lives.

The fifth-grader who played her that day, and the thousands of students in Dothan schools, are all Joes.

And there is nothing average about them.

Alabama Bright Lights captures the stories, through words, pictures and video, of some of our state’s brightest lights who are working to make Alabama an even better place to live, work and play. Award-winning photojournalist Karim Shamsi-Basha tells their inspiring stories. Email him comments, as well as suggestions on people to profile, at karimshamsibasha@gmail.com.