by Max Marbut
Staff Writer
Workspace: W.C. Gentry, attorney and School Board member
While he doesn’t like to draw much attention to them, you can’t ignore the many awards W.C. Gentry earned during his career as an attorney and advocate for the legal profession.
They’re all in the conference room instead of the reception area or his private office, but the collection includes recognition by the American Trial Lawyers Association as a “Top 100 Trial Lawyer,” the A.J. Cone Leadership Award from the Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers and the 2009 Daily Record Lawyer of the Year Award.
Gentry’s curriculum vitae in education is also extensive. He was appointed to the State of Florida Council on Education Policy, Research and Improvement in 2002 and chaired it from 2004-05. From 2004-07, he served as pro bono counsel to the Senate and successfully defended legal challenges to education funding under the Florida Education Finance Program.
Gentry serves on the boards of the Early Learning Coalition of Duval and the Alliance for World Class Education. He’s also a founding director and chair of the Schultz Center for Teaching and Leadership.
In 2007, Mayor John Peyton appointed Gentry to chair the Jacksonville Journey’s Education Subcommittee.
When he was elected to the Duval County School Board to represent District 3, Gentry went through a transition. Now education issues are his main focus.
In addition to making decisions about public education, Gentry makes field trips.
“The part I like most is visiting the schools and meeting the principals. That’s how you see how the schools are really doing. Making decisions on what has to be sacrificed due to lack of funding is the hardest part,” he said.
However, Gentry made it clear, to paraphrase Mark Twain, that any rumors of the demise of his legal career are greatly exaggerated.
“I enjoy working with other attorneys and the mental stimulation. People think I’m retired and just serving on the School Board, but I’m still practicing law,” he said.
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