Meet our Speakers

Dr. Maxine Pinson Easom has spent her entire life in the Clarke County School District - first as a student K – 12, graduating from Athens High School, and then as a professional educator for 32 years. Easom was an elementary teacher at David C. Barrow Elementary School, the principal at Gaines Elementary School for nine years, Fourth Street Elementary School for five years, W. R. Coile Middle School for four years and Clarke Central High School for nine years. Easom has a Bachelor of Arts from LaGrange College and an educational specialist and doctorate degree from the University of Georgia. In 2000, she received one of the Athens area’s most notable awards, the Athena Award, honoring women who strive toward the highest levels of personal and professional accomplishment, excel in their chosen field, and devote time and energy to their communities.

Easom retired in 2009 receiving the high honor by having an elementary school named for her (Maxine Pinson Easom Elementary School) by the Clarke County School District Board of Education. In 2019, Easom and Patsy H. Arnold published “Across The River, The People, Places, and Culture of East Athens,” as the first single-document history ever written of East Athens.

Easom was married to the late, Dr. Ken Easom, former President of Athens Technical College, and is the mother of two daughters, Dr. Meg Hines and Merideth Miller, both of whom are educational professionals, and is the grandmother of five grandchildren.

Natalie Wilson

Natalie Wilson served as co-editor-in-chief of the ODYSSEY during its first year of publication. She has a bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism from Howard University and a master’s in communication from Johns Hopkins University. Wilson has more than 15 years of journalism experience covering news in Washington, D.C.; Prince George’s County, Md.; Charlottesville, Va. and North Carolina’s Piedmont Triad. She currently anchors the FOX 8 WGHP 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. newscasts weekdays and is the reporter and producer of “Good for Her!,” a series that highlights the women who are making waves in the Piedmont Triad. Wilson’s work has been recognized by the Hearst Journalism Awards Program, the National Black Programming Consortium, the White House Correspondents’ Association, the Radio Television Digital News Association of the Carolinas and the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Nashville/Midsouth Chapter in which she was nominated for two Emmy Awards. In 2019, Black Business Ink named her one of the 40 Under 40 Most Influential African Americans in the Triad.

DR. SWADE HUFF

Dr. Swade Huff was raised in Athens, Ga., and is a 1991 Clarke Central High School graduate. He was the assistant principal of Alps Road Elementary, the coordinator of special education in Gwinnett County Public Schools, the associate principal at Cedar Shoals High School, and the principal at Crossroads Alternative School, Statham Elementary School and Indian Creek Middle School. He was named Clarke Central High School principal in 2018.

Huff received his bachelor’s degree and his master’s from Piedmont College, his leadership certification from the University of Georgia, his educational specialist degree from Piedmont College and his educational doctorate degree from Georgia Southern University.

Dr. Robbie P. Hooker began his career in education as a classroom teacher at W.R. Coile Middle School, where he was named Teacher of the Year for 1995-96. He was then at Westside Middle School in Barrow County, where he served as assistant principal from 1997-2003, before returning to Clarke County School District as principal of BurneyHarris-Lyons Middle School from 2003-2008. In 2008, Hooker was named principal of Clarke Central High School, a position he held until 2016. In that role, he received many honors, which included being named Georgia High School Principal of the Year in 2013 by the Georgia Association of Secondary School Principals.

After leaving Clarke County School District, Hooker became Assistant Superintendent for High Schools in Henry County from 2016-2019 before assuming the role of Superintendent of Social Circle City Schools. He took on his most current role as Clarke County Superintendent in October of 2022.

Hooker holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s in behavior disorders from Valdosta State University and earned his doctorate in educational leadership from Clemson University. Additionally, he holds certifications in educational leadership from the University of Georgia and school counseling from the University of West Georgia.