Lonnie Calhoun III, the director of the Charlotte County Adult Learning Center, works to make sure every person who enters the doors of the center has a chance to grow.

Calhoun, who became director of the center in January, finds that health and literacy go hand in hand.

During the center’s fall festival, Calhoun worked with representatives from the Charlotte County Lions Club to offer free eye exams for participants.

Calhoun worked for three-and-a-half years in Mafeking, South Africa, “working with the educational community in South Africa on issues related to deaf education and public health,” he said.

His wife, Dr. Marian Hahesy Calhoun, is the director of the Charlotte County Primary Care Facility.

According to a previous Gazette report, Calhoun has a master’s degree in comparative and international education from Columbia University and serves as vice president of the Prince Edward County United Way. He also serves on the Longwood Center for the Visual Arts Advisory Board and has worked at Longwood University for 15 years.

Getting results may take time, but it is par for the course in fully developing a strong educational foundation, something Calhoun hopes to give to each student at the learning center.

He said a lesson that has stayed with him is one he learned from his grandmother, Shelly Byrd, who lived in Vidalia, Georgia.

“My grandmother taught me to stand for principles and not for expediency,” Calhoun said.

He said creativity and resourcefulness also go hand in hand with learning, and when asked what three words would best describe him, Calhoun said, “reflective, creative and resourceful.”

In describing childhood memories that have contributed to the energy and creativity he brings to the center, he recalled some of the best as involving him waking up on Christmas morning for gifts and time with family.

To learn more about the learning center, call (434) 542-5782 or visit the site on 395 Thomas Jefferson Highway, section B.