When Legacy Leaves a Wake: Reflections on Leadership, Courage, and the moments that fill our cups.

Reflections after the premiere of “Choice Stories: Legacy Leaves a Wake”

Some moments in leadership require immediate action.Some require decisive words.

And then there are the moments that require stillness.

The premiere of Choice Stories: Legacy Leaves a Wake was one of those moments for me. And like the perfect cup of coffee, the kind you sip slowly instead of gulping on the way to a meeting, I knew I needed to let it sit…to let it breathe…to let the meaning settle before writing about it.

So I waited.

Not because I didn’t have words.

But because gratitude deserves reflection.

And a few weeks later, with a latte in hand and a heart that is still incredibly full, I want to share what that night meant to me and to the entire Lowcountry Leadership Charter School family.

Because this documentary isn’t just about a school.

It’s about belief, courage, and legacy.

The Night Our Story Was Told

On a beautiful evening in Meggett, South Carolina, our community gathered for something truly special: the premiere of Choice Stories: Legacy Leaves a Wake, produced by the Charter Institute at Erskine.

The film captures the 13-year journey of Lowcountry Leadership Charter School- a school that began as a dream, grew through perseverance, and now stands as a thriving K-12 community committed to leadership, character, and opportunity.

But what made the documentary especially powerful was this: It followed the same group of students from kindergarten all the way to graduation.

Our Legacy Seniors.

The first class to experience their entire educational journey at LLCS.

When you watch them on screen, from tiny K5 students with backpacks bigger than their bodies to confident young leaders preparing for the world, you realize something profound:

This is what vision looks like over time.

And as I sat there watching it unfold, surrounded by families, teachers, board members, community leaders, and friends of our school, I had one overwhelming thought:

This story belongs to so many people.

Chapter One: The Beginning

Every great story begins with courage.

And the story of LLCS began with a group of leaders who believed that students in rural Charleston County deserved more opportunity.

They believed in a school where:

• Character mattered as much as academics

• Leadership could be taught

• Community could shape education

• And students could learn through project-based experiences rooted in the Lowcountry

That vision became Lowcountry Leadership Charter School.

But starting a charter school is not easy.

It requires risk.It requires resilience.And it requires people who are willing to work tirelessly for something bigger than themselves.

The founding team, led by the remarkable Mache Larkin, Founding School Leader, laid the groundwork for everything we see today.

They built the foundation.

They set the culture.

They established the belief that students in our rural community could thrive in a school designed around leadership and excellence.

And 13 years later, the results of that courage are sitting in classrooms, leading clubs, winning championships, graduating, and preparing to change the world.

Every school has a beginning.

But not every school begins with such bold belief.

Chapter Two: The Leader

This was the part of the documentary that made me the most uncomfortable.

Because it focused on… me.

Leadership can feel a lot like coffee.

From the outside, people see the finished cup- the foam art, the warm mug, the comforting scent.

But what they don’t see is everything behind it:

The grinding. The pressure. The heat.

And leadership is very much the same.

The documentary tells my story as a school leader, but the truth is that leadership is never a solo act.

Yes, I’ve had the privilege of leading this school for some time.

But my journey has been shaped by:

• incredible mentors

• dedicated teachers

• visionary board members

• courageous students

• and a community that believed in our Mission

Leadership is not about standing in the spotlight.

It’s about holding the flashlight so others can shine.

Over the years, we have built a culture focused on:

• Leadership development

• The 7 Habits

• Project-based learning

• High expectations

• Character and accountability

And I’ve often said that leadership is not about titles.

It’s about impact.

There was also a moment in Chapter Two that stretched me in a way leadership rarely does: true public vulnerability. The documentary shared a part of my life that I had never opened up about so openly before: the personal loss of my late husband. Leadership often asks us to be strong for others, but strength is not the absence of pain, it is the courage to grow from it. In sharing that story, I talked about the man who shaped so much of the leader I am today. My late husband lived with a kind of fearless courage that refused to waste time on hesitation or doubt. He believed in showing up fully, loving deeply, and leading boldly. Watching him face life, and ultimately illness, with that kind of resolve changed me forever. The truth is, the courage people sometimes see in my leadership did not begin with me. It was modeled for me first. His belief in living without fear or reservation became the quiet foundation beneath every decision I make, every challenge I face, and every opportunity I step into. I am the leader I am today because of the courage he showed and the courage he helped place inside of me. And sharing that story in the film was both the hardest and most meaningful moment of the entire experience.

Watching the documentary reminded me of something I wrote years ago in Cup of Courage:

“Leadership is not measured by the position you hold, but by the courage you show when the road gets hard.”

There have been many hard days in building and leading this school.

But there have been far more beautiful ones.

And seeing those moments captured on screen, moments with students, teachers, families, and our incredible Legacy Seniors, was something I will treasure forever.

Chapter Three: The Legacy

And then came the part of the film that made the entire room emotional.

The Legacy Seniors.

These students are the first class to start in kindergarten and graduate from LLCS.

Think about that for a moment.

They didn’t just attend the school.

They grew up with the school.

They were there when classrooms were new. When traditions were just beginning. When leadership lessons were first introduced.

They helped build the culture that defines LLCS today.

And now they are graduating as young adults who embody everything our Mission stands for.

Two of those students, Caden Johnson and Dana Cobb, joined our panel discussion after the premiere, sharing their experiences and reflecting on what it meant to grow up in this school.

Listening to them speak was one of the proudest moments of my career.

Because they didn’t just talk about academics.

They talked about:

• leadership

• character

• community

• confidence

They talked about becoming who they were meant to be.

And that is the real legacy of LLCS.

Not just test scores.

Not just graduation rates.

But leaders who will leave their own wake in the world.

A Room Full of Gratitude

The premiere brought together so many people who have been part of this journey.

Our incredible board chairs, John Brandon and Lindsey Davis.

Our authorizer and champion for charter schools, Cameron Runyan and the Charter Institute at Erskine.

Teachers who pour their hearts into students every day.

Families who trusted us with their children.

Community leaders who supported our mission.

And most importantly, our students.

Because they are the reason this story exists.

What This Documentary Really Means

This documentary is about more than one school.

It’s about educational opportunity.

It’s about school choice.

It’s about what can happen when educators and communities are empowered to build something different.

In rural communities especially, schools can become anchors of opportunity.

And LLCS has become exactly that.

A place where students learn to think independently.

A place where leadership is not just taught, but practiced.

A place where character matters.

That’s the story captured in Choice Stories: Legacy Leaves a Wake.

And I am profoundly grateful that the Charter Institute at Erskine chose to tell it.

The documentary also quietly highlights a reality that those of us in the charter school world know all too well: the persistent funding disparities that exist between traditional public schools and public charter schools. Charter schools in South Carolina, and across the country, are often asked to deliver exceptional outcomes while operating with significantly fewer resources. At Lowcountry Leadership Charter School, we feel that gap every day. Yet instead of allowing it to limit us, it has pushed us to become something even stronger: innovative, resourceful, and relentlessly focused on impact. Our teachers stretch every dollar. Our leaders think creatively. Our students rise to high expectations. In many ways, doing more with less has become part of our DNA. And despite the funding challenges, we continue to grow, improve, and outperform, not because the path is easy, but because our Mission is too important to settle for anything less. Charter schools were created to innovate, and at LLCS, that spirit of innovation is exactly what allows us to turn challenges into opportunities for our students every single day.

My Personal Thank You

To everyone who made this documentary possible.

To the filmmakers and producers.

To the educators.

To the families.

To my family and my village of supporters.

To the students.

To the charter school advocates who fight every day for educational opportunity.

Thank you.

You helped tell a story that matters.

And to the Legacy Seniors, our trailblazers, you will always hold a special place in the heart of this school.

You are living proof that when a vision is nurtured with dedication and belief, something extraordinary can grow.

One Last Sip

Leadership journeys rarely pause long enough for reflection.

But this moment did.

And as I sat watching the screen that night, surrounded by the people who made this school possible, I realized something simple but powerful:

The greatest legacy any leader can leave is people who are ready to lead next.

And that is exactly what I saw in those students.

So tonight, as I finish this blog with the last sip of a now-cold latte, I feel two things:

Gratitude.

And hope.

Because the wake this school leaves behind is only just beginning.

☕ Watch the documentary here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQWens8OxbM&t=221s