Four Decades of Faithful Service

Janice was born in Knoxville, Tennessee. She graduated from South High School in 1961. Following high school, she took a dental assistant job with Knoxville dentist Dr. Harold Burns.

Janice later worked with two additional dentists, Dr. John Cavalaris and Dr. William Davis.

In 1983, Janice became aware of an open position at Harrison Chilhowee Baptist Academy. As a single mother, it appeared to her to be a meaningful career move as well as an opportunity for her two sons, Allan, 12, and Casey, 11, to receive a Christian education. She began her career at HCBA that year as Secretary to the Director of Admissions. Over the course of the next ten years, Janice Mink held the office together as four male directors and supervisors came and went.

In 1993, she found herself filling the role of Director, the position that she would hold for the next thirty years. Early on, she assumed complete, personal responsibility for the recruitment and admission of students who were a good fit for the academy and carried a constant personal burden for the growth and success of the school. Over the years, Janice became known for her boundless energy as she invested extra-long days in the office and countless Saturdays and Sundays hosting events, giving tours, and interviewing students and families. She endeared herself to hundreds of families, foreign and domestic, as they considered the educational opportunities offered at the academy. Lights in her office burned late into the night as she made phone calls at hours that were convenient for families who lived in various time zones around the world.

Janice Mink was a vital force through several significant milestones in academy history.

• During her tenure, she experienced seven head-of-school transitions.
• She was instrumental in the enrollment of an average of 100 new students each year.
• She weathered the school’s name change from Harrison Chilhowee Baptist Academy to The King’s Academy in 1993, along with the necessary changes in all academy documents.
• She experienced the increase in the grade levels offered at the academy from Grades 8–12 to Grades Pre-K3 through 12 and the corresponding increase in the necessary paperwork that accompanied the growth.
• She played a key role in the achievement of the enrollment of 525 students in the 2014–2015 school year, the highest in academy history except for two years: 569 in 1946–1947 and 593 in 1947–1948, when HCBA served an additional 120 and 115 summer school students, respectively.

Janice was the academy’s “point person” for all things related to the technical aspects of international student enrollment. She served as the Designated School Official with authority under U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to issue the Forms I-20 required for international students to apply for F-1 Student Visas in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS).

Janice connected particularly well with parents in other countries who were not able to make a personal visit to the campus. Many times, she was the calming voice on the American end of international phone calls, alleviating the fears of concerned mothers and fathers who were weighing the possibility of sending their teenage son or daughter across the globe to a rural boarding school in the mountains of East Tennessee. Understanding the emotions as only a mother can, she forged bonds with families who did not have the opportunity to talk with anyone else face to face. It was no surprise that, when many of those parents were finally able to visit the campus for the first time, often to attend their child’s high school graduation, the first person they asked to speak to was “Mrs. Mink.” She was able to build a tremendous level of confidence and trust with her helpful demeanor, listening ear, and commitment to take good care of the children entrusted into the academy’s care.

In her own words, “God gave me the opportunity to meet wonderful American and international families. I will remember and love them forever.”

Among her proudest legacies is seeing her two sons, Allan (’89) and Casey (’90), graduate from the academy. With a whatever it takes determination, she has now seen all five of her grandchildren, A.J. (’16), Makensie (’16), Camryn (’18), Sidney (’19), and Tyler (’21), graduate as well.

Janice officially retired from her 40-year career in Admissions at the end of 2023. She still resides on campus and continues to support academy programs and attend academy events.

Janice is a longtime member of Sevier Heights Baptist Church in Knoxville. As a child, she attended Fort Hill Baptist Church in Knoxville, where she was saved and baptized at age 12.