by Mikayla Marazzi

When Spencer Lloyd graduated from Indiana Wesleyan University in 2007 , he never expected that he would move back to Grant County — and he certainly did not expect to buy a home on Boots Street , Marion eight years later and call it home .

As a college student , Spencer had always been warned about the danger of Boots St ., which was located directly across from IWU ’ s campus . Senior students would whisper to their younger peers about the alleged violence and criminal activity that ensued on this street . Boots St ., in many circles , was synonymous with not only danger but a sort of haunting darkness , a black cloud encircling the fringes of IWU ’ s campus . Yet , this is exactly where Spencer saw fit to make his home . “ Dark places never get any brighter unless the light lives there ,” Spencer explains .

Even now , as he raises his family in their Boots St . home , Spencer says that people continue to scratch and shake their heads when he tells them where he lives . However , the Lloyd family has lived on Boots St . for two years now and never encountered any danger . Spencer is friendly with many of his neighbours , especially the elderly gentleman who lives directly across the street . He explains that this gentleman , well in his 90s , lives in the house where his wife was born and spends most of his time playing golf . “ Everyone that I ’ ve talked to is kind and wants the community to be safe ,” Spencer assures .

Spencer seeks to celebrate the history of Grant County — the stories , faces , and names that predate his family ’ s arrival . Boots St ., he recounts , was named for William Boots , the founder of Marion ’ s 1st United

Methodist Church , a man who once held spiritual revivals down by the Mississinewa River .

And Spencer ’ s desire to incorporate the past into the present can also be seen in the naming of his children . All his kid ’ s names are derived from Hebrew and bear specific meanings : Zadok ( 8 ) means “ righteous or just ”, Amaryah ( 4 ) means “ the Lord ’ s protection ,” and Zillah ( 2 ) means “ Jehovah speaks ”.

The Lloyd ’ s home on

Boots St . also serves as a point of connection for his students and community members alike . He and his wife , Stacia , enjoy opening their home as an off-campus get away for students or temporary lodging for young adults . If students are unable to go home on school breaks or if a recent graduate needs somewhere to live as they are transitioning into a new job , Spencer and Stacia are happy to open up their home . Further , Stacia hosts

a baking club every month , providing a friendly space for women from all over the community to bake and commune together .

Ten years ago , as a student at IWU , Spencer once joked around with his music professor and mentor about how he would one day come back and steal his job . Now , eight years later , Spencer teaches many of the music courses at IWU . He has been teaching for five years and will be going into his sixth year

of teaching in the fall . He loves teaching the music portion of the Humanities Fine Arts course , as it allows him to interact with a wide and diverse range of students — not just the musically inclined and gifted students .

Spencer centers all his teaching around the building of relationships . “ It has less to do with the content that you teach and more to do with the lives you are entrusted with ,” Spencer says .

Over this last year , Spencer worked at The Crossing , an alternative school in Marion , as a certified teacher . Though he spent much of his time teaching and administering standardized tests from the state , he focused his time and energy on establishing personal connections with his students . It was important to Spencer this his students felt empowered to succeed , especially if they had grown up hearing that they had nothing to offer the world . Spencer wanted , rather , to reverse this thinking . He wanted each student to know that they didn ’ t have to be products of their circumstances — that they had the power to make better , more positive choices .

This coming school year Spencer will be serving as the choral director for Madison Grant High School . He sees music as a point of connection with students , another means of engaging with the population of Grant County . “ I have a greater opportunity to establish relationships than the teachers of other subjects like Math or Science ,” Spencer says , “ simply because of the nature of music .” As choir extends from 7th to 12th grade , Spencer could potentially be teaching the same students for 6 consecutive years . Additionally , choir includes after-school programs , rehearsals , and concerts and these provide frequent and consist time frames in which he can connect with his students .

Having served on the board of directors of Marion for the last couple years , Spencer is passionate about community development and cultural reformation . Through music and the building of relationships , Spencer hopes that he can continue to be a light in places of darkness .