Gilbert Walker

By Catharin Shepard

Staff writer

Military veteran and longtime Hoke resident Gilbert Walker announced this week that he plans to run for a seat on the Hoke County Board of Education.

Walker said he decided to run for a four-year term on the board because he tries to be active in the community and wants to help make sure Hoke schools produce graduates who are able to compete in the workplace.

“I hear sometimes of students graduating and not being able to read, write in cursive or be able to write professionally, composition. It alarms me that sometimes students graduate and they’re not able to compete with other counties or with other states,” he said. “I want to be proactive in things like that.”

As a teenager, Walker went to work to help support his family after his father died. He joined the Marine Corps and served in Vietnam before returning to school to finish his high school diploma. He attended Richmond Community College to learn technical skills and in 1995 started his own electrician business called Hoke Electric, which he operated until retiring in 2008. He has also served as a pastor for 36 years.

Walker and his wife Nancy moved to Hoke in 1973 and raised three children, who now have families of their own. Walker said he has been involved in volunteering as a chaperone with the local schools, and one of his adult children teaches in the school system.

If elected, Walker said he would like to focus on a number of different issues including employing highly qualified teachers in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), supporting military families and getting the community more involved in the schools as “stakeholders.”

“We need more businesses to be a part of this school system,” Walker said.

Helping children and teens from military families transition into Hoke is another important priority for him, Walker said.

Supporting standards that can make sure students come out of high school “college and career ready” is a must to be able to help those students prosper after graduation, he said.

“Students graduate and they sort of get lost in the system. They work in jobs that are not high-paying jobs,” Walker said.

Supporting teachers, including financially, is also one of the candidate’s goals.

“My goodness, we’re still working to try to get our teachers a raise. Anything that I can do to support them … I’m really a person who believes teachers ought to get a decent salary,” he said. “And, of course, also the teacher’s assistant should be paid properly.”

Walker also said that, if elected, he would support upgrading existing facilities and adding new buildings where necessary. He spoke favorably of the proposed plan to build a third campus to Hoke County High School.

“I want to be a part of things like that,” he said.

Walker said he wants to work within the board’s ethics and framework to get things done. He was president of the Native American Bible College in Shannon for two years and knows how boards work, he said. He would also seek to develop close relationships with the other board members and the superintendent.

“It’s going to take a team effort and I like to work as a team individual,” he said.

The biggest challenge for the county schools remains getting adequate funding, Walker said. Hoke is one of the fastest-growing counties in the state and needs money to make important projects happen.

“I don’t believe it’s our county commissioners but just the lack of funds that I believe is going to be a challenge for us, but I believe we can make it,” he said.

If elected, Walker said, his first priority would be to look at the student population numbers at each school and focus on preparing for continued growth.

“Our high school is running over capacity,” he said. “…We’re growing in leaps and bounds, and somehow things have to be stretched to make things comfortable for those people who are coming in.”

The candidate said people should consider voting for him because he is familiar with the school system, is passionate about supporting students and teachers and is a team player.
”I’ve been in the system. I’m fresh, I’m new, I have a great zeal for it. I think I could make some things happen,” Walker said.