A Friend for Life
When Jane's Fund founder Jane Harrell asked Principal Rolando Parkins if she could give him a shout out on Miracle Monday, she hesitated to ask if she could also share how they met.
Parkin's immediate response: "Why not? Hopefully our story will inspire others."
A husband, father of four, and a life-long educator and scholar, CMS recently named Principal Parkins of Thomasboro Academy a 2027 K-8th Principal of the Year, and Jane's Fund is honored to be one of many on his team. Known as a source of wisdom and strength, even a Father-figure to countless students and staff, Parkins has played a similar role in the lives of the Harrells.
Years before brainstorming sessions began between Thomasboro Academy and Jane's Fund on how to best provide educational opportunities and resources to students, Principal Parkins and his wife Tricia spoke life to the Harrells six weeks after Little Jane died of brain cancer. Openly sharing their seemingly impossible journey after losing their only son,19-year-old Asante, in 2016, the Parkin's honesty and vulnerability about life after losing a child was invaluable to the Harrells.
Tricia Parkins, also an educator in CMS, uses her voice as a platform to create discussion in the African American Community, amongst college students, and throughout the communities around us. “We cannot see what burdens a person’s mind,” said Tricia Parkins. “We often cannot see beyond our own fears, hurt, and suffocation. But we have to speak up. We have to have an open dialogue with each other so we understand that our issues, fear, and pain are similar to our neighbors. The greatest ill in society is the isolation that is created in our mind as we take this journey of life.”
Continuing to parent three daughters while returning to CMS to teach and lead, both Parkins are living examples of how God gives everyone something to give back to the world in a way nobody else can. Their roots and relationships run deep in the community, and Jane's Fund may not exist if they had not crossed paths. We are grateful to learn from leaders like Principal Parkins and his wife Tricia and are forever grateful for their friendship.
