STUDENTS AT East Middle School in Tullahoma grin when they see Pastor Lee Brannon III in the halls. Brannon is East Middle School’s beloved school counselor. He is the pastor of Burning Bush Original Church of God in Belvidere, where he has served for 24 years with his wife, Tonya Brannon, and two daughters, Hannah and Mikah.
Aside from pastoring, Lee Brannon worked as a case manager at the Highland Rim Mental Health Center. After a tragic school shooting in 1998, Brannon was called to be available at Lincoln County High School to counsel students. This experience led Brannon to serve as the high school counselor in Lincoln County and later in Franklin County. He was the first Black school counselor in the Franklin County school system. His calling to serve his church and the schools became intertwined.
“If we can change our school, we can change our neighborhood. If we can change our neighborhood, we can change our city. If we can change our city, we can change the world,” Brannon said. “The kids know that I am available to listen without judgment, and I think when they leave my office, if they don’t know anything else, they know that somebody cares for them.”
This dedication to the community’s safety, education, and well-being was passed down to Brannon from his whole family.
Brannon’s father, Lee Roy Brannon Jr., made history as the county’s first Black National Guardsman, and his mother, Barbara Brown, broke barriers as the first Black Department of Human Services worker. Lee shares his mother’s advice to students even now.
“She would say, ‘Son, if you stop to think, you will think to stop,’” Lee recalled. “She meant before you make any decisions, think about the consequences.”
Another mentor for Lee was his grandfather, Fred Blackwell Sr. He took over the first Black funeral home in the county (Johnson-Blackwell Funeral Home) and had the only Black-owned laundromat. He was in the first graduating class of Townsend High School. Blackwell and his wife, Julia, were able to send all seven of their children to college by working multiple jobs.
Lee’s family values compassion and education. His grandmother insisted that all her children earn a teaching certification, regardless of their major. She knew that educators are world changers. Lee agrees.
“One of the greatest needs for us is re- evaluating the way that we teach kids. Education doesn’t change much, but the way we do things doesn’t always work for certain kids; that doesn’t mean they aren’t as smart or as capable, it’s just that the ‘four walls’ system isn’t working for them,” Lee said.
Lee impacts lives through many channels. He is the student council advisor and adult advisor for Sources of Strength, a peer-led program in which students become the eyes and ears in the hallways to keep a pulse on their classmates’ emotional well-being. This year, he initiated “Random Acts of Kindness Week” and is planning a sneaker drive.
Wherever you find Lee, he is creating and inspiring positive changes in the world, honoring his family’s generational values. GN
