Mansfield ISD Magazine Fall 2019 | Page 19

GET TO KNOW YOUR BOARD MEMBER: RANDALL CANEDY different stages of life. Right now, with three children all out of the house, any afternoon doing anything with all three of them at once with my wife is about as perfect as it gets for me. We are a pretty fun bunch. Banks were hiring because there was so much economic stimulus in this region. Never fancying myself as a banker, I have been one for 44 years. My current job is my fourth bank, but I have been at Frost for over 26 years. What schools did you attend? I grew up in Atlanta, Georgia and Who was your role model as a kid? That one is easy. My father was the What makes you so passionate about Mansfield ISD? attended high school at Sandy Springs High School, which is a suburb not unlike Mansfield. It had great schools and a wonderful quality of life. I then attended college in North Carolina and graduated with a degree in Civil War history. old-style traveling salesman who left home on Monday morning and came back off the road on Friday evening. He put more time and love into each weekend than most do in seven days. He was also a great lover of history, like I am, and was always illustrating to me great leaders in history and how they lived their lives. Although he has been gone for over 10 years, I reflect daily on the wisdom he bestowed on his children during his life. Upon moving to Mansfield in 1993, I became involved in the community and grew to love our area very much. MISD then became a rapidly growing school district. Not long after my family settled here, Mr. Newsom became the superintendent, and he and I became good friends. He asked me to serve on numerous committees, where I got a great sense of how school districts functioned and how adult leadership had such an important role in providing the highest quality education for our children. What is one quote that has become your life’s motto? My mother always said, “There but by the grace of God go I.” It exemplified her spirit of serving others, which I have always tried to replicate. What would be the perfect afternoon for you? That question changes as you go through Give us a brief bio of your career. I graduated from college in 1974 during the Carter Recession when there were virtually no jobs anywhere. As Texas was just beginning its boom period, I, like many thousands of others, packed my car up and headed to Dallas. I was a founding board member of the Education Foundation, where I served for 16 years. That exposure really got me invested in the district, and I quickly became a champion for how great a district we had. I have had the privilege of working with the administrators of the district over the years and just feel that maintaining a great district is the responsibility of all of us—not just the teachers, staff and administrators, but also the parents, business community and citizenry. An educational system is truly the foundation of a great community, and I chose to serve not only to maintain our great system but to do everything I can to assure continuous improvement for our students. Canedy said he loves to spend time with his family. MANSFIELDTODAY 19