BY ROGER SMITH
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN
INEZ — Kiwanis Club members welcomed hometown heroes Thursday. Martin County High School’s national champion JAG Knowledge Bowl team was the special guest, sharing their stories and joy from their title run at the JAG National Career Development Conference in Indianapolis.
JAG specialist Lance Tackett and team members Russell Maynard, EJ Harless and Collin Mills recounted their journey to the top, reflecting on the teamwork, preparation and local support that powered them past dozens of contenders to a first-place national finish.
The team clinched the national title in a grueling two-day showdown, defeating JAG Missouri in a high-stakes final round.
Tackett offered background on the evolution.
“The Knowledge Bowl competition was introduced the first year I started teaching JAG in 2021–22,” Tackett said. “We didn’t compete that year because it wasn’t yet offered at the state level.”
Martin County joined the event the following year and has captured the state championship every season since.
In their first year at nationals, the team did not place. They finished eighth the following year. This year, they took the top spot and brought the national championship home to Eastern Kentucky.
Tackett noted that Martin County students have qualified for nationals and won in multiple JAG categories throughout its history. However, he added that even after 30 years of JAG in the county, many people still misunderstand the purpose and potential of the program.
“A lot of times, people don’t look at JAG as being for students with higher academic standing,” said Tackett. “But it gave me a path to where I am now—and I didn’t have one before.”
Tackett takes pride in the program’s consistent success in meeting JAG’s national performance benchmarks. Under his leadership and that of the previous specialist, Marcie Ward Hanson, the school has earned top designations for exceeding standards in graduation, employment, postsecondary education and other positive outcomes.
“We’ve completed all the requirements for our seniors each year—whether they go to work or school,” Tackett said. “Every year, we’ve achieved either the JAG 5 of 5 or JAG 6 of 6 award.”
Maynard, a three-year member of the team, gave Kiwanis members a closer look inside the classroom. He explained that JAG helps students prepare for college or the workforce. The program focuses on employability and life skills—what JAG calls “competencies.” Students in the multi-year track must master 81 of them.
“We learn how to do interviews, build résumés, speak in public, research careers and make financial decisions—like how to buy a car,” said Maynard. “These are things we’d otherwise have to figure out on our own.”
Maynard, who earned first place in the state in both Financial Literacy and Knowledge Bowl, mentioned the collaborative nature of Knowledge Bowl.
“Knowledge Bowl is like a quiz bowl,” he said, “but you really have to work as a team.”
To wrap up the luncheon, the team shared stories and photos from the competition and showed their sense of humor. One highlight showed them onstage in their business attire, accepting their championship medals.
“They went 10 through 1 for the places, and here it was, Martin County High School for first place,” said Maynard. “They called us up and gave us medals with the JAG logo on it. They were gold.”
The team laughed as they recalled a recurring issue: name misspellings at the awards ceremony.
Tackett recounted a moment before the event when the state president relayed that a national official had promised to get the names right this time.
“He told me this,” said Tackett. “So we get to ours, and they said, ‘Maynard, Mills, Gibbs and Rushing.’”
Harless added his own memory, pointing to a photo taken after the ceremony.
“There’s Tyler Gannt, our hype man who couldn’t be here today,” Harless said. “There are about 300 people in this room, and everything is very formal. He stands up and screams to the top of his lungs, as happy as could be.” He grinned and pointed at the photo. “There’s Collin; he’s very happy. And I’m a little shocked that Gantt screamed as loud as he did.”
Mills described their visit to the NASCAR Museum, a trip JAG National sponsored at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Harless, with a broad smile, added, “Oh, we’re as happy as can be.”
The team does fundraising to pay for their expenses during the competitions. Tackett said the team appreciates the community’s support.