When she starts talking about education, Hanover County Public Schools’ new superintendent is almost like a kid in a candy shop. She is excited and passionate about the path she has taken – and where she will be going in her new role.

On Sept. 19, Dr. Jamelle S. Wilson talked to the Pamunkey Woman’s Club about her life, career, challenges and goals.

She moved into the superintendent’s office on July 1, becoming the county’s 12th to hold the post. She succeeded Dr. Stewart D. Roberson, a man she calls “a close friend and mentor.” She said she was prepared for the top office in the school district “because of his mentorship and friendship.

“But I’m not Stewart,” Wilson added. “We take what we can from other people and how they influence our lives. We take the best and we try to roll it into us.”

“I can only do this job the way I know how to do this job — who I am, where I came from.”

Wilson’s early years were spent in a rural community in Spotsylvania County, not far from the Hanover County line. She spent much of her youth living with her grandparents.

Her childhood found her in a house that she called “limited in what we had access to.” She was 10 before her home had running water. “We didn’t have very much.”

Her eyes were opened to the world of teaching and the impact a teacher can make at a young age. One of her teachers introduced her to Richmond and “opened my eyes. That said to me there’s more than what I grew up with. We all have that opportunity, even if it’s something very minor and we don’t believe it makes a difference.” That difference, she added, sometimes comes in “just knowing someone cares about you.”

Wilson said she is “a servant in every aspect” of her life: spiritual, personal and professional. “Every challenge is an opportunity for me to grow.”

She said she cares and has a passion for what she does. “I love my job. I love every job I’ve ever had.”

“You may have aspirations, but if people don’t see your commitment, they can’t envision you anywhere else,” she said. “It’s not about me, it’s about the children that we serve and their families that send them to us. One adult can make the single most difference in any child.”

As superintendent, listening is integral to Wilson’s operating plan. “My listening to other people telling me what they believe is working well,” she said of her weeks at the division’s helm.

She said she does consider the future and “where we should be.” She also said she encourages the sharing of ideas, which will help “take us to the next level. We are a high flying school division. If we rest on the laurels, on the accomplishments that we’ve already achieved, everybody else is going to try to get where we are.” She said it is not a competition, but “it’s about serving our community.”

Before being named superintendent, she served as assistant superintendent for Instructional Leadership. Her resume also includes principal, assistant principal, curriculum specialist and classroom teacher in the county school system. She also was a principal in Caroline County Public Schools.

Wilson and her husband of 19 years, James, make their home in the western part of Hanover County. They have two sons: Miles, 13, a Liberty Middle School student, and Grant, 8, who attends South Anna Elementary School.

Wilson listens to one of the members during the question-and-answer session of her program.