Guest column: A movement worth building: The next chapter of Liberty

Every child deserves a champion. For the past seven years, it has been the greatest privilege of my life to stand alongside an extraordinary team of dreamers, believers and doers who refused to accept the status quo and instead built a movement grounded in the belief that every child deserves access to an exceptional public education and a choice-filled life.

What began as a concept sketched on a napkin has grown into the Liberty STEAM Charter School network - three Title I campuses serving more than 1,070 scholars across five counties and 17 ZIP codes. More importantly, Liberty has become a place where children are empowered to lead choice-filled lives through college, career and military pathways, proving what is possible when high expectations are matched with unwavering belief, opportunity and purpose.

As I transition from serving as Liberty's founding school leader to launching the Liberty STEAM Charter School Foundation, I do so with overwhelming gratitude. Serving my hometown has been the greatest honor of my professional life. Leadership has never been about titles, but about serving others and leaving a community stronger than you found it. It has been the privilege of a lifetime to help give feet to a dream we have shared together - bringing joy, making the impossible possible and urgently pursuing excellence so every child can realize his or her full potential without having to leave Sumter.

Liberty would not exist without people who believed before there was proof. I am especially grateful to our founding Board Chairman, Greg A. Thompson, and his wife, Danielle Thompson, whose unwavering faith transformed an idea into a lasting institution. Greg has become far more than a board chairman - he has become like a second father.

I am equally thankful for every Liberty board member, past and present, including Kimberly Rauschenbach, Shafara Douglas, Jenny Knopf, Heather Bass, Pastor Marion Newton, Ben Griffith, Bronwyn McElveen, Cammy Chandler, Steve Creech, Dexter Davis, LaShea Davis, the Rev. Dr. Bill Bennett, Dr. Rodney Thompson and the many others who have faithfully served. Together, they never lost sight of why Liberty exists - to expand opportunity through public school choice and ensure every child has access to an exceptional public education.

I am also grateful to the South Carolina Public Charter School District, Superintendent Chris Neeley, State Superintendent Ellen Weaver, the South Carolina Department of Education and Team Sumter for believing in Liberty's mission and helping create an environment where innovation and excellence in public education can flourish.

From Liberty's earliest days, the Rev. Dr. Newton has been a steadfast source of wisdom, encouragement, prayer and unwavering belief in both me and our mission. More recently, Gifford Shaw has walked alongside me as a trusted mentor and friend during a pivotal season of leadership. Along with Greg, these men have spoken truth into my life, shaped me as both a leader and a servant, and invested not only in me, but ultimately in every scholar Liberty has been privileged to serve.

To our faculty and staff, thank you for embracing a mission bigger than yourselves. To our parents, thank you for entrusting us with your greatest gift. To our scholars, thank you for reminding us every day that potential is never determined by circumstance.

Together, we have secured nearly $10 million in philanthropic and grant support, earned South Carolina's second-highest school report card rating in our very first year of receiving a state rating, received the Palmetto Silver Award, achieved Cognia Accreditation with Distinction, became South Carolina's first Purple Star charter school, surpassed local and state academic averages, and grown into a nationally recognized public charter school serving families across our region. More importantly, we have demonstrated what happens when a community refuses to accept "No, you can't" as the final answer and instead comes together to say, "Yes, we can." When people believe in children, embrace public school choice, demand excellence, practice strong governance, hold themselves accountable and faithfully steward the public trust, lives are transformed, opportunities are created, and entire communities are changed.

While my role is changing, my calling is not. In this next chapter, I will focus on strengthening the partnerships and philanthropic investment needed to bring Liberty's future Early College & Technical High School to life while sharing our story with state and national policymakers to advocate for policies that expand opportunity for children in communities like ours. If what we have learned in Sumter can help shape a brighter future for students across South Carolina and our nation, then this next season of service will be every bit as meaningful as the last seven years.

I move forward with complete confidence in Superintendent Dr. Brenda Hafner, whose servant leadership will faithfully guide Liberty's next chapter. Together, we remain united by one mission and one unwavering commitment to our scholars.

What began as an idea has become something much larger than a school. It has become a movement. Movements are never built by one person. They are built by ordinary people who choose to do extraordinary things together in pursuit of a cause greater than themselves.

The first half of my Liberty journey has been about building a school. The second half will be about ensuring the movement endures - raising the resources, forging the partnerships, advancing the policies and building the future Early College & Technical High School so that generations of children will have even greater opportunities than those who came before them.

Because in the end, the Liberty story has never been about one school or one person. It has been about what becomes possible when a community refuses to settle, puts children first and commits itself to creating opportunities that will outlast us all.

The best is yet to come.

Rise Anyways.

Dr. Trevor T. Ivey, NBCT, is founding school leader, 2019-2026, of Liberty STEAM Charter School and CEO and president of Liberty STEAM Charter School Foundation.