Canine Cops - County Line Magazine

From the Halls of Montezuma,To the Halls of Piney GroveMr. Kent is active at North Point Community Churchand, when asked if he wanted to join a mission tripto Bolivia, he accepted. He had been unemployedfor six months and before leaving, he sent a resumeto TeachGeorgia. Though he had never been ateacher before, he felt an urge to apply and prayedabout it before he left for Bolivia. When in Bolivia,he worked with a church on the poorer side of town,building a sidewalk, installing fans, painting walls,repairing a roof, and playing with the kids. Afterspending time with middle school aged children,he realized just how much he loved being aroundthem! Mr. Kent also happened to be the only bilinbyLaura KraynickPublisher’s Note: Laura Kraynick is a rising eighth-grader at Piney Grove Middle School.Jonathon Kent looks like any other teacher whenyou take a glance at him. If you dig a littledeeper though, you will see that there is muchmore than what appears. “Senor Kent” is what allof the kids at Piney Grove Middle School call him.Known as the fun, athletic Spanish teacher, all ofthe students love him! Little do they know just howinteresting he is.Mr. Kent’s adventures started when he joined theMarines right after high school. In his six yearsthere, he had many interesting experiences andtraveled around the world. Some of the areas hevisited include Parris Island, SC; 29 Palms, California;Camp Lejeune, NC; and the Mediterranean Seaand Adriatic Sea, where in 1995, his unit rescuedAir Force Pilot Captain Scott O’Grady, who was shotdown in Bosnia. When asked if being in the militaryinfluenced him as a teacher, he replied, “Absolutely.If you can handle the military, you can handle anything.There is no doubt that teaching is harder thanmilitary life sometimes. The kids can be challenging,but if I didn’t care enough about the kids and theirfuture, I wouldn’t be doing this job.”After leaving the Marines, Mr. Kent attended NorthGeorgia College and State University in Dahlonega.He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish with anemphasis in Business and a Bachelor of Science inComputer Information Systems.26CountyLine | June 2012 | www.CountyLineMagazine.net