BOLD ALUMNI: STAN TUCKER
From the basketball courts of Winder-Barrow High School to the pages of children's books, Stan Tucker's journey is a story of dreams, education, and the power of kindness.
Stan Tucker graduated from Winder-Barrow High School in 2002. During his time at WBHS, he participated in basketball and football. In his senior year, the team ranked number one in the state.
In his senior year at WBHS, Principal Rob Johnson instilled a dream in him to someday return and become a principal like Johnson.
After high school, he received a scholarship to attend Piedmont College and play basketball. "I had hoop dreams at the time, but I wanted to become an educator," he said. Stan graduated with a degree in Early Childhood Education and became an elementary school teacher.
He enjoyed his time teaching, but eventually, he sought a new challenge. Despite leaving the classroom, Stan's passion for education never waned. He envisioned a way to teach kids about the importance of literacy—the ability to read and write—outside traditional settings. This vision led to the creation of the Read n’ Roll, a bookmobile where children earn books through acts of kindness.
"The kids earn books through acts of kindness. It’s important to read, but it’s also important to teach kids the importance of how you treat others," he explained.
The whole concept is that kindness is the currency to earn a book from the bookmobile. "Anyone can afford a book off my bookmobile because anyone can be kind," Stan said. One day, while stacking books on the Read n’ Roll, he thought to himself, "How great would it be to have a section on this bookmobile of books written by kids?" This led him to develop a writing program called ‘Share Your Story,’ with the goal of inspiring the next generation of storytellers.
"The cool thing about being the author of your own life story is that you decide how it goes," Stan said.
Stan wrote his first book in 2019, titled ‘Stan the Man.’ It’s about his father and him, and about living a life that makes our loved ones proud, even when they are not here. "I lost my dad when I was in third grade, and through this book, I try to teach kids to live a life that makes others proud by treating people with kindness and respect, giving our best effort in all that we do," he shared.
"The reason I write children’s books is to give them a message that they can implement in their own lives," Stan added.
Fun fact: Stan was on The Ellen Show in 2019. He played the Holy Roller game for a chance to win $25,000 for the bookmobile.