Payne is Able to Attend Her First Convention

If you had to pick the best-known teacher in South Carolina, the most obvious choice would be Dutch Fork High School social studies teacher Kelly Payne.

She ran for Superintendent of Education, is a photographer of historic sites and a prolific Twitter user.

And for the first time, she’s a delegate to the Republican National Convention. Not that she sought the honor. “I didn’t campaign for it, but my name was on the ballot,” she said. “I was worried about the cost and getting the time off—we’ve just started the school year.”

But her principal gave her the ok and now Payne finds herself in Tampa. Payne has been snapping away with her camera (check out the aforementioned Twitter feed), but she’s also excited about what she’ll bring back to her students. “I’m going to use what I see at the convention in my Sociology class to talk about political parties,” Payne said.

Payne said she hopes that the discourse between parties would improve. “It needs to be more civil. The politicians are role models for kids and when the kids see what’s being said it turns them off to politics,” she said. “Ultimately, we’re all Americans and we want the same things.”

Though Payne supported Michele Bachmann during the GOP primary, she is enthusiastic about Mitt Romney. “He has been a successful businessman and things that aren’t a core function of federal government,” she said.

Since leaving New Jersey and coming to the Palmetto State for college, Payne has lived in South Carolina for all but a two year-stint in Savannah when she was starting her teaching career.

Payne thinks Tampa is as good a spot as any for the convention, but she’s not sure it will make a difference in which presidential candidate takes Florida. “I think Romney already has the advantage there,” she said.

After returning from the convention, Payne will be back in the classroom recounting her experiences this week for her students’ benefit. She’ll also be working on grassroots educational causes that matter to her. “That’s what I’ve always been interested in, so that’s what I’ll be doing besides teaching,” she said.