Brant Evans arrived at Darlington in 2008. He holds the role of Dean of Student Life, teaches two periods of AP Government and coaches baseball. Brant holds a B.A. in History and an M.Ed. in Social Sciences from the University of Georgia. His wife, Ashley, teaches Spanish at Darlington. In his free time he enjoys Georgia football, playing golf, playing with his dogs and spending time with his family.
What attracted you to Darlington?
I had some cousins who had graduated from Darlington. I had an aunt who taught here, and the fact it would actually give a job to both me and my wife was a huge attraction. I loved the idea of being able to teach a level of students that wasn't college, but it was also not your average high school either. I felt that I could be a scholarly teacher and really push students as well as have a good relationship with them outside the classroom. In addition, my wife and I had talked about moving abroad to teach and this was a compromise because we have so many international students in our community. It is like being able to teach abroad but still be close to family.
What do you like most about your job?
Giving demerits. No, I'm just kidding. I hate giving demerits actually. The best part of my job is teaching. Getting to be in the classroom for those two periods a day is kind of a nice and relaxing part of the day where I hope students don't see me in the dean's role. They can kind of relax a little bit and I can relax a little bit, too. I never thought I would enjoy teaching government, but I do.
What's the hardest part of your job?
The hardest part of my job is trying to find a balance between being the bad guy and being the guy that everyone likes. I have come to the understanding that not everyone is going to like me, and that's okay. I can deal with that. What's tough for me is I want people to know that I do care about them, and that can be hard. Sometimes I get so bogged down trying to uphold the standards that I forget to be a person and have that good conversation with a student walking down the hallway. I get so consumed with shirts being untucked that sometimes I need to slow down. I'm torn between two things: upholding the standards and making sure people are having a good experience here.
Were you always drawn to education?
If you had asked me in high school, I would've said no way. I went into accounting first, knowing that I wanted to be around people and not stuck behind a desk. After a year of accounting work, I knew it was something I didn't wish to pursue. I loved history, and I thought about teaching college for awhile, but I knew I wouldn't have the relationships with students and other faculty like teaching in a high school setting. I knew I wanted to be able to coach or do dorm duty to hopefully have a good impact on students' lives.
