Candidate: Lesley Fry

Greetings Suwannee County, District 1

I am Lesley Townsend Fry and I am running for Suwannee County School Board District 1.

I was born and raised in Suwannee County. My mom is Margaret Townsend and my dad is the late Phil Townsend Jr. My parents were 3rd generation farmers.

I have been married to Chris Fry for 34 years and we have two sons, John and Jack Fry, both live in Gainesville away at college.

Currently, I am a success coach for Goodwill Industries of North Florida managing their Take Stock in Children program and a wellness ambassador for Madison County Memorial Hospital.

I have been an educator serving students in Suwannee County for over 30 years. I started as a substitute teacher in 1987 and walked out of my classroom in 2022 because I was looking for a better way to serve and impact students.

I have taught Kindergarten, second, third, fifth, and sixth grades for Suwannee County School system for 30 years. I have also taught as an adjunct professor for North Florida College for eight years. In addition, I am a National Board-Certified Teacher, which means I am certified to teach in all 50 states!

I hold a Master’s Degree in Vocational Education.

I cowrote, twice, the 21st Century Learning Community grant for all 4 Suwannee Elementary Schools. This is a $4 million dollar grant that provides morning and after school care for 560 students daily! I was Director of this grant for 8 years. The grant still continues today.

I am a business owner. I started Accelerated Learning of Live Oak, a tutoring company, in 2008. My company provided free tutoring services to the students of the Suwanee County School System through a grant with the Department of Education for 5 years.

I am a Clinical Educator Trainer. This means I host intern teachers.

I have taught at ALL 9 schools in this district! I have worked alongside or under EVERY principal in this district.

I personally wrote grants to provide white boards and Studies Weekly for every classroom at Pineview Elementary School. I wrote a $5000 grant to purchase the first books placed in the library at Pineview Elementary when it was first built.

My Garden Club, at Suwannee Middle School, was responsible for a $2500 beautification project providing landscape to the entrance of the school.

In 2001, I was Teacher of the Year.

In 2001, I was named People Making a Difference in Our Community by the Suwannee Democrat.

In 2004, I was Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers.

In 2008, I was Outstanding Alumni for North Florida College.

I am a breast cancer survivor and activist.

I am a member of First Baptist Church Live Oak

Service above self has always been important to me. You may have seen my Pink Flags around Live Oak. For the past 3 years, in October, I hold my Pink Flag Drive in Live Oak to raise $2500 for Shand’s Pediatric Oncology patients.

For 10 years my classroom held a food drive and wrapped presents at the old Kmart for the Humane Society of Live Oak.

In addition, I volunteer at Hooked on Heroes, Hurricane Shelters, Lion’s Club, and Salvation Army.

I am first and foremost an advocate for students and a voice for teachers!

I am passionate about after school care for students, recruitment for high quality teachers, promotion of our great district, and recruiting male role models to mentor our young people, especially males.

I am persistent about a vocational initiative to expand our CTE (Career Technical Education), mental health, homelessness, graduation rate,  CTE certifications, number of children in private and home schools, Ready to Work Florida, and Ruby Payne strategies.

Last year and my first year in my new position at Goodwill, I received a perfect score of 100 on my Balance Scorecard, which gave my program Luminary status!

I have proven my commitment to the Suwanee County School District for over 30 years. Running for School Board is just a continuation of my commitment to serve students.

My teacher friends will relate this……nothing says commitment more than teaching next to the 6th grade middle school boy’s bathroom for 10 years!!!!!!!!