Matthew Burnette, Staff Writer

Westwood Elementary School fifth grade teacher Deidra Goins was recently named the 2025 recipient of MTSU’s True Blue Citation of Distinction for Service to Community.

The award is given to alumni who have a history of outstanding service to the community in which they live and will be presented at a ceremony at MTSU on September 19th.

Goins says she was shocked when she found out about the award since MTSU is located in Murfreesboro and she lives and works in Manchester.

“I was quite taken aback about it,” she explained. “I’m honored and I appreciate the award, but it’s not really why I do the things I do. Lots of other people are involved with the things that I got recognition for. I appreciate the recognition, but I also acknowledge that it’s not just me.”

Goins got her degree in Education at the university. She recalled that her choices were limited at the time.

“Back in the Dark ages when I went to school, there were pretty much just four teacher education schools,” she joked. “It was Tennessee Tech or MTSU. I went back to school when I was in my 30s and had children at home, so MTSU was an easier commute, and they had a really great teacher education program, and still do today.”

The award narrative highlighted Goins’ work with All God’s Children, an organization she started over a decade ago with now-retired teacher Kim Davis.

There were no summer feeding or learning programs at that time, and when the two saw a need for one, they decided, with support from First Presbyterian Church, to start their own program where they would provide on-site breakfast and sack lunches to students during the summer.

Goins’ husband worked as the maintenance supervisor for the Manchester Housing Authority and was able to secure a building to operate out of, which they are still in today.

“When we first started, we wanted it to be more than just a place to hand out food,” recalled Goins. “We wanted it to be a ministry of mutual presence where we could be positive adults. You can’t have too many positive adults in your life, and so that was the model we went for.”

“Kim and I founded it, but over the years we’ve received lots of support from other churches in the area and from individuals,” she added. “We have all kinds of volunteers that come here.”

Also cited with the award was Goins’ work with the Out of the Darkness Walk, a fundraising arm of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. She found the organization after losing her middle son to suicide in 2016.

“A few years after Blake died, I was looking for some way to bring hope to others who might have experienced something similar to what my family experienced,” she explained. “If you find a path forward from your tragedy, to convert that into a way of reaching out to others and to make it your purpose in a sense, you can find healing in that.”

Four years after her son’s passing, Goins started out by raising money for the Out of the Darkness Walk in Nashville before deciding, with the help of some friends, to organize a walk in Manchester the following year.

The first walk in Manchester had around 300 to 400 walkers and raised over $30,000 for suicide prevention, and the event has helped raise over $100,000 in subsequent years.

Goins became a member of the Board of Directors of the AFSP and was named Chairman of the Board this year.

“You can let your grief close you off or you can let it lead you to a higher purpose, and that’s the path I chose,” she explained. “When you lose someone to suicide, it can be debilitating in the isolation. Then when you get involved and you see outside of yourself and see something bigger than yourself and your grief, and you see that there’s an entire community of people who have shared experiences with you, there’s healing in that.”

“I believe in the work. I believe in the cause, and I believe in the purpose of bringing hope to others who have been affected by suicide. I think that had a lot to do with the award,” she added.

Goins explains that she believes it to be everyone’s higher purpose to help those who may be in need.

“I just think if you see a problem, we are called on as fellow human beings to address those problems and offer empathy,” she said. “I just think it’s what we’re called to do. It’s our higher purpose. I appreciate the recognition, but the real reward is in the work itself. Reaching out to others and offering a helping hand to others is the real reward.”

The next Out of the Darkness Walk in Manchester will be on Sept. 20 at 10 a.m. with walkers gathering at College Street Elementary School. Registration can be completed at http://afsp.org/coffeecounty.