ABS graduate exemplifies school’s values

Published 5:30 am Tuesday, May 22, 2018

Vance Dutton can’t stop talking about the 2012 pearl gray Toyota Tacoma his mom, Gina Wise, bought him as a graduation present. By all accounts, the high school senior earned it.

A student at Athens Bible School since first grade, Dutton will graduate with full honors, having earned a Principal’s Choice Scholarship to Calhoun Community College, where he plans to get an associate’s degree in business.

Ever practical, Dutton wants to transition into the workforce as quickly as possible, having already wracked up numerous dual enrollment hours that will help him finish his associate’s in less than two years. Once finished at Calhoun, Dutton hopes to get his real estate license and take advantage of the exploding commercial market in the Athens area.

He has already spent time shadowing local realtors.

“They gave me a lot of good advice,” Dutton said. “It’s something that if you get out and work super hard at it, anybody can be successful at.”

Dutton wasn’t always so confident about his future. When he was in third grade, his parents’ divorce sent him into a temporary tailspin.

“At first, it caused a lot of stress with school work and going back and forth and whatnot,” he said. “It was tough, but I’ve tried to keep a positive attitude and make the best out of the cards we’ve been dealt.”

Dutton said the environment at Athens Bible was a huge help.

“It’s such a great environment here. They made it easy for me to learn and get along with people,” Dutton added. “I felt that the teachers and administrators at Athens Bible always wanted me to succeed.”

Thanks to the encouragement and support of his school family, Dutton didn’t just make it through that difficult time, he excelled by focusing on his grades and getting involved in a number of school activities, including Beta, science, history and Above and Beyond clubs.

He also became a star athlete in both track and field and soccer. He was captain of the soccer team in his junior year. At the beginning of his senior year, he was selected by ABS leaders to serve as chapel coordinator and work in the front office.

“Both are great honors we thought would be fitting for a young man like Vance,” Principal Randy Adams said, adding he selected Dutton to serve on the chapel committee because of his reputation as an exemplary Christian in the school.

Preparing and sharing inspirational messages for the school’s weekly chapel services came naturally to Dutton, who has also preached at several local Church of Christ congregations, including his home church of Oakland Church of Christ.

“One thing I like to preach and teach is that we have a higher calling on this earth and that is to serve God above all else, above worldly things,” Dutton said. “This is something I impress upon myself.”

As a member of ABS’s Above and Beyond Club, Dutton helped organize kindergarten graduation, the school’s 75th anniversary celebration, the groundbreaking for the new school on U.S. 31 and alumni dinners.

He has also been active in student government since his freshman year, rising to the ranks of class president. Last summer, the local chapter of the American Legion sent Dutton and five other classmates to Alabama Boys State at the University of Alabama. Students from across the state are chosen for the weeklong exercise in government based on their demonstration of leadership, hard work, strong morals and motivation in school and community activities.

Both sets of Dutton’s parents — dad Tarry Dutton, stepmom B.J. Dutton, mom Gina Wise and stepdad Kevin Wise — will be cheering on their son and the other 23 graduates at ABS’s 7 p.m. ceremony tonight.