One of Bulloch County’s principals has received a prestigious accolade.
Southeast Bulloch High School Principal Donna Clifton was recently awarded the Seven Seals Award by Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR). This is the second time Clifton has received an award of this type, this one being a national award.
The award is given to a select few who demonstrate an initiative for “recognition of significant individual or organizational achievement, initiative, or support that promotes and supports the ESGR mission, to include the efforts of the more than 4,500 volunteers who carry out ESGR’s mission across the Nation on a daily basis.”
ESGR said in an official statement, “Donna Clifton has gone above and beyond in her support of the Air National Guard mission and the Airmen who carry it out, including one of Southeast Bulloch High School’s own teachers, Brent Whitaker. Multiple military deployments can take a toll on any organization, and Mrs. Clifton’s unwavering support has helped to further the mission of our Air National Guard.”
Her nomination came from Senior Master Sergeant Brent Whitaker, the SEBH’s acclaimed director of choral operations, who is a member of the Air National Guard and the ANG Band of the South.
According to a press release issued by Bulloch County Schools:
“Mrs. Clifton has been one of the strongest supporters of Guard and Reserve members that I have ever had a chance to work with,” said Whitaker. “In my line of military service, I have been gone a lot over the years, and often this can happen with little warning. I have never felt the slightest bit of disapproval from her due to my military service, and, in fact, she has bent over backwards to make sure I am okay and able to juggle everything when these military events call me away. Knowing you have a supportive and caring boss back home makes the absences away so much easier. I couldn’t do my military job on the road as well if I didn’t know she had my back here at home.”
