SIDNEY — A career goal for a Sidney High School graduate was achieved three years ago when she became an employee of the Sidney City Schools District. When that goal was achieved, Shamara Foy became the first African-American woman to work in the board of education’s central office.
Earlier this year, Foy added another milestone to her resume — she is the first African-American woman to be employed at the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office.
While similar in description, the jobs are as different as night and day. From 6:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., Foy is the food service administrative assistance for the school district. For an hour after school each day and every other Saturday, she is at the Sheriff’s Office processing licenses for conceal-carry permits.
A 2000 graduate of SHS, Foy has been an overachiever all her life. She graduated from high school in just three years instead of the normal four years.
“I had the credits, so I graduated after my junior year,” said Foy. She attended Edison Community College for 1 1/2 years until her parents, Pamela Dixon and Dock Foy Sr., divorced and her mother moved the family to Norfolk, Virginia, where she was originally from.
“I came back to Sidney because of family,” said Foy. “My siblings moved back and I decided to come back.”
Foy filled out numerous applications with the school district, applying for one job after another. She adopted a never give up attitude until she was hired.
“I put in so many applications,” said Foy. “Mr. (John) Scheu was my principal when I was at Emerson. He saw my application and he called me for an interview. I got hired and I was very happy.”
Foy wears many hats as the food service administrative assistant. She’s the first person you see when you go to the board of education office. And she’s the first person you talk to if you call the BOE office.
She processes lunch applications and works with parents paying school fees. She has learned about the Ohio Department of Education and it’s guidelines for serving healthy lunches to the students.
“When I first go in in the morning I handle all the messages,” said Foy. “Some of the cooks come in as early as I do. If I have lunch applications on my desk I go through those and then I work on bills for the department such as for the milk and food. I’m also answering phone calls in between. Parents will call to see how much money is on their child’s lunch card.”
Foy said with the school year winding down she’s receiving more and more calls about unpaid book fees.
“A student can’t get their grade card if the book fees aren’t paid,” she said.
Foy said she’s in touch with the cafeteria staffs at each school on a daily basis to make sure everything is going smoothly.
“Shamara has done everything expected of her and more,” said Scheu.”She catches onto things extremely quickly and works very efficiently.”
Sheu said Foy fits in well with the rest of the BOE staff.
“When I received her application I did a reference check. Every former employer had nothing but superlative things to say about her work ethic and attendance,” said Scheu.
“When we interview candidates, their quality of conduct is the No. 1 attribute we look for,” said Scheu. “Fifteen percent of our students are minority students. So diversity is important to us.”
For most people working a full-time job would be more than enough to fill their day. But not for Foy. She decided she had too much spare time in the afternoon so she began to look for something else to do on a part-time basis.
“With all the security officers in the schools, Sheriff (John) Lenhart was coming by the board office a lot. So I started asking him if there was a job I could do at the Sheriff’s Office.
“One day he told me ‘I’ve got something you can do.’ He said he needed help with the CCW license applications.”
So Foy now works at the Sheriff’s Office an hour a day Monday through Friday and four hours every other Saturday.”
“My interaction with her at the BOE office was very positive,” said “Lenhart. “I’m always trying to recruit young people into the Sheriff’s Office.
“The conceal carry applications are just exploding and I thought she would fit in nicely with that. When I interviewed her she was adamant that she couldn’t work on Sundays because she wanted that day for her religion.”
Lenhart said the Sheriff’s Office sees people from all walks of life.
“Some are happy to see us and some are not,” said Lenhart. “How she handles people is exceptional. She has a great sense of humor. When she’s dealing with the public, she’s exceptional. It’s difficult for us to recruit African Americans to work on the job. We are striving to do that.
“I feel we are very fortunate to have her on staff,” said Lenhart. “I’ve tried to steal her away from John Scheu. I’ve also encouraged her to go to law enforcement school. She’s got a great temperament for that.”
“I process all the applications,” said Foy. “On Saturdays I handle signing people up for the CCW classes. There’s a lot of people coming in to do those.”
With each application Foy makes sure the person lives in Ohio, checks to see if they have any misdemeanors, and does a web check if they have lived in Ohio for at least five years. If they haven’t then an FBI check is completed.
“If the person is a violent offender then they can’t have a license,” she said.
Each person, she said, must complete a six hour class and have two hours on the firing range before they are eligible for a CCW license.
“Joanie Henry has been a great teacher,” said Foy. “I’ve been asking her a lot of questions. It’s been hands on training for the job.”
She’s been working at the Sheriff’s Office since February.
Foy said she is thankful and blessed with the opportunities she has had in her life.
“People are amazed when I tell them where I work,” said Foy.
Foy said she would like to help start a community outreach program that helps bridge the lines of communication between the community and the police departments. Foy, who will be 33 in May, said she is a homebody.
“It’s just me and my dog,” said Foy. “Sometimes the only time people will see me is when I go to Wal-Mart. I love to be at home.”
Foy credits her mom with her work ethic.
“She was always pushing me and my siblings to keep trying,” said Foy, who has three sisters and one brother. “Because I got the job with the school, my sister applied to be an aide at Whittier and she got the job.”
“I hope I can show people that it doesn’t matter where you come from. You can rise above it and keep trying,” said Foy.
Tiffani Foy said she is proud of her sister.
“You don’t see a lot of African Americans working for the county. There’s only one officer and he works for the city police department. She’s opening up the doors for others.”
Roy’s mother has given her simple advice through the years.
“I’ve always told her to stay humble and to keep God first in her life,” said Dixon.”I’m very proud of her.”
