Faith & Family - Cullman, Alabama Spring 2020 - Page 33

community near Guntersville. His
mother, a devout Christian and
Sunday school teacher, made sure to
take his brothers to church.
His father took over their
spiritual development when Teal was
about 10. New to the Christian faith,
Teal’s father made sure they stayed
in church during their teen years
whether they wanted to or not.
Teal said there is no doubt
that his upbringing and the added
guidance of two godly grandmothers
were a great influence on him and his
brothers. He and his older brother are
ordained ministers, and his younger
brother is an ordained deacon, all in
the Baptist church.
Teal tried to impart the same
Christian teachings to his son
Jason, daughter Melanie and six
grandchildren.
Changing a community
When Teal graduated from
Jacksonville State University in 1968,
he knew he wanted to teach. His first
job was at Kate Duncan Smith DAR
School in Grant, where he stayed for
25 years.
His college science teacher,
upon learning that he was taking
a job at KDS, shared a personal
connection to the school. In the early
1920s, the teacher’s father was on
the search committee commissioned
by the Daughters of the American
Revolution to find a location for the
school.
The teacher’s father said they
found the most backward place in the
U.S. — Grant, Alabama. Teal said,
in those days, such a statement was
probably true, as the setting was on
top of a mountain, isolated, without
good roads or many educational
opportunities.
KDS helped to change that.
Established in 1924, it is the only
privately owned and publicly run
school in the U.S.
“And the Daughters were fully
invested in it,” Teal said. “It was a joy
to work with them.”
Teal stayed at the job for 25
years. He said what DAR did for the
community is immeasurable.
“But its greatest achievement is
that it has turned around the lives of
many students who would not have
much of an opportunity,” Teal said. “I
was privileged to be a part of that.”
Students agree
According to Shannon Benton,
KDS class of 1980, students feel
the same way. Benton recently
organized a group of former students
who attended the school sometime
between 1968 and 1993 to surprise
Teal, whom they still call “Coach,”
at the morning worship at West
Highland Baptist Church, where Teal
is now pastor.
“KDS is a source of pride to the
Grant community, and Mr. Teal was
a huge part of it,” Benton said at the
time. “... We just wanted him to know
how much he meant to so many.”
An emotional Teal said from
the pulpit that day, “Being inducted
into the Marshall County Sports Hall
of Fame last August is kind of a big
deal for an old coach, but this is the
April 2020 | Faith & Family
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