A lifetime of following God’s lead and loving kids
Even as a child, little Dianne Harrist knew exactly what she was born to do – teach. On weekends she held class in the shed behind her Momma’s store on Main Street and all the neighborhood kids – including her little brother Sidney – had to finish their studies before they could ride her Shetland pony.
She patterned herself after Ms. Louise Porter - her favorite teacher at Atlanta Elementary School. Dianne also remembers Ms. Carrie Echols as being all business, but an excellent teacher.
As a junior in high school Dianne worked at First National Bank for Mr. Duke, who remarked that she would make a good math teacher. But her plans were shattered when her father died in 1970 during her senior year. Older siblings Betty (Draper) and James had already left home and Sidney was a junior at Atlanta High School.
After graduating, Dianne stayed home and attended Texarkana College for a year before moving to Commerce with her best friend, Cissy Crutcher Clayton, to attend East Texas State University. After receiving her degree she was immediately hired by David Kennedy, principal at Atlanta Primary School, to teach first grade.
After Dianne received her master’s degree, she became a DECA teacher at Atlanta High School. “It was a joy to work with those kids,” she said. “They wanted to work.”
She was instrumental in beginning the “Capturing Kids Hearts” program in Atlanta. The concept was that if you capture the kid’s hearts, then you can capture their brains, and the training was expensive. After that first year the school board approved the program for the entire district and put Dianne over the training and implementation.
Dianne developed “Champions for Kids” based on that program to be used inhouse at no cost to the district. The concept is to bond with the students because if they look forward to school they learn better.
After receiving her Doctorate in Administration, Dianne was hired as Principal at James Bowie High School, but came back to Atlanta after just a year when she was hired to teach Vocational Adjustment Classes (VAC) at the high school and work with students who weren’t yet able to read.
“I’m fortunate to have been able to work with students from their firstgrade foundation to their finishing years,” she said. “I always believed I was called by God for a purpose and that purpose was to love kids, all kinds of kids as God loves all of us.”
When the assistant principal position came open at Morris Upchurch Middle School in Queen City, Dianne jumped at the chance to work under QCISD Superintendent Bobbie Wright and Principal Wes Kirkham. Soon she was hired as the Queen City Elementary School Principal – a position she held for several years - under Superintendent Rob Barnwell. Although she had received her Doctorate in Superintendent Studies, she decided that really wasn’t her calling.
It wasn’t long until Atlanta lured her back once again with the position of Elementary Curriculum Director under Superintendent Gail Stinson. When Roger Hailey took over Stinson’s position, he moved Sidney into his vacated role of Support Services Director and put Dianne in Sidney’s vacated role as Elementary Principal, where she stayed until just about nine years ago.
As the Administrative Curriculum Director and District Mentor, Dianne counts herself lucky to be in the same office with Sidney. “We have very different leadership styles but we are consistent,” she said. “We may not agree on something, but we hash it out and compromise. We have the same end-goal and we pray together daily. Over the years we’ve had some tough conversations, but we always did what is best for the students and staff. If you do the right thing for the kids, then you’ll have a good district.”
Through all the many positions and schools, one bible verse remained her mantra: “And I sent messengers unto them, saying, I am doing a great work… Nehemiah 6:3.”
“I always wanted to do a great work like the verse talks about,” she said. “And I feel like God wanted me in these kids’ lives. Kids are the same – they want to know you care about them. Whether they are eight years old or 18, they want to know someone believes in them.”
Dianne has always had a great faith in God and it has helped her, not only in her career, but in her personal like as well. When her husband of 36 years, Keith Whatley, died 11 years ago, it was that faith that got her through the grief. The former Atlanta Rabbit who led his team to the semifinals in 1964, died while waiting on a liver transplant.
She was teaching DECA at AHS and he was a coach at Texas High School in Texarkana when the two got married. Keith decided to quit and go to work for his dad after just one year of coaching. Together, they raised two sons – Brad and Blake. Brad, a professional Bass Fisherman, is married to Jennifer and they have three daughters. Blake, a NICU RN at Willis Knighton Hospital in Shreveport, is married to Kacie and they have twin boys.
Three years ago Dianne joined the First Baptist Church- Moores Lane in Texarkana. The new friends she made there prompted her to move to the Pleasant Grove area. While Cissy Clayton is still her bestie, she has several new friends that love to travel as much as she does.
Everyone that knows her, knows that Dianne is not the kind to sit still for long. While she does plan to rest for a spell, it’s a sure bet she will find something else to keep her busy soon.
“Sidney and I both have an Alaskan cruise on our bucket lists, so we are researching that,” she said. “If Atlanta needs me, I’ll be there. Who knows what God has in store?”