Alabama Power’s Bobby Madison and wife, Courtney, help shape Columbiana, next generation

Abruptly woken from her slumber at 4:30 a.m. by an alarm, Courtney Madison lies in bed for a few minutes contemplating her day before getting up for her daily routine.

After spending time in devotional and prayer, she checks her work email and begins to catalogue the various tasks in her calendar for the day. She makes note of upcoming faculty meetings as well as the sports schedule for her two sons. As she bounces about the house getting ready, her husband, Bobby Madison, wakes up long enough to catch that it’s only 5:15 a.m. and goes back to sleep.

Following in his mother’s footsteps, their youngest son, Bryson, will get up next at 6 a.m. and watch cartoons before needing to get ready for school, while his older brother, Brayden, copies his father and continues to sleep in.

With everything ready for the day, Courtney leaves the house and heads to work in time for an early meeting at Elvin Hill Elementary School.

Bobby wakes up, and it is now 7:30 a.m., with no time to waste, he springs out of bed and begins getting ready so he can drop off his sons at school and be in Birmingham on time for work.

While their personalities are diametrically opposed, Courtney and Bobby make things work — finding strength and support in each other’s differences, fueling their mutual passion for helping young people.

“It just works,” Courtney said. “It’s been so nice to just come together as a team and as a partnership to really give back.”

Full-circle moments

Six years into her role as the principal of Elvin Hill Elementary School, Courtney spends each day finding ways to continually uplift the students and educators in her care — all while taking the time to support her family at home.

Courtney first started her teaching career in 2009 at Elvin Hill Elementary as a first-grade teacher and then as a fourth-grade teacher before becoming an instructional coach with Shelby County Schools in fall 2016. In March 2018, she joined the staff at Helena Intermediate School as its new assistant principal before returning to her alma mater in July 2019 to be the new principal of EHES.

Courtney spends her days as principal keeping up with emails, meeting with parents, carrying out disciplinary actions, meeting with staff and doing classroom visits. It’s a never-ending and constantly expanding list of tasks and objectives, but to Courtney, it’s thrilling.

“Some days, you just never know,” she said. “You want to be able to predict it, but you just don’t know.”

In addition to doing her best to supply her employees with everything necessary to educate the kids, Courtney also does her best to play a part in preparing them for the larger world.

“Sometimes in a small town, you don’t realize what a big world it is until you get out,” she said. “And so, in coming back home, I just want our students and our kids to know that there is a big world out there that you can see and be whatever you dream to be. I just want to be that picture of hope for them.”

Having grown up in Columbiana, the opportunity to serve as the principal of Elvin Hill Elementary is not only a significant milestone in her career, but it’s also the chance to connect with the next generation of children at her alma mater. As the years go by, she’s even able to spot familiar faces as she has the opportunity to teach the children of past students.

“It means a lot to be able to be a part of their lives each day, especially now, seeing I have classmates whose kids are coming,” Courtney said. “This year, a student I taught in fourth grade has a kindergartener coming, and so you’re able to experience full-circle moments being back at home. It makes the journey a little sweeter to be able to have that.”

Serving others

Bobby spends his days working for Alabama Power at its corporate office in Birmingham in the compliance department. Previously, he served as the supervisor of the organization’s business office, which was formerly located on Columbiana Main Street.

“I think a lot of what drives both myself and Courtney is serving people and being an advocate for people,” Bobby said. “In my current role, I work in the compliance group, but I deal with a lot of employee issues. So, employee concerns may arise, and in that I’m able to serve people, I’m able to be a voice for people that are having difficult situations.”

Even beyond serving Alabama Power’s employees and customers, Bobby makes time for coaching his favorite sports and helping local youth after school hours.

After graduating from Shelby County High School, Bobby went to Western Michigan University on a scholarship to play basketball. From there, he journeyed to Europe and several countries in South America, where he was able to enjoy his love of basketball.

While still in Portugal and before they were married, Bobby was on the phone one day with Courtney when a casual discussion led to the start of the annual Bobby Madison Basketball Camp, which recently celebrated its 15th year.

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“Courtney said, ‘Hey, why not just do a camp and share your love of basketball with the kids. It’ll be something for the community. Give them an opportunity to learn the game and share some of what you know,’” Bobby said.

That summer after he got back home, the two worked together to start planning the camp. With everything set up, they figured that 25-30 kids would show up and were shocked to find 150 kids eager to learn at the first event.

“From there, we realized that this is something the community wants,” Bobby said.

For Bobby, the camp was more than just a way to teach a sport to children; it was a way to introduce them to a gateway that can lead to higher education, a career and more — just as it did for him.

“It’s a way to show kids, ‘Hey, you can go see the world through a game of basketball if you love it, or you can learn life lessons from just being in a gym and learning sports and being a part of a team,’” he said.

The camp also gives Courtney the chance to spend time with students and allows them to see her in a different light than her typical role as principal.

“It’s always a nice week to come and have the kids see me in a different capacity,” she said. “It’s laidback, it’s informal, (and) it’s a different way for us to connect on a different level.”

Home sweet home

Courtney and Bobby both grew up in Columbiana and attended Elvin Hill Elementary, Columbiana Middle and Shelby County High School. While they knew each other through their families, it wasn’t until after college that the two reconnected when Bobby was back home one Christmas and they went on a date. There was a spark there that led to them eventually getting married in 2012.

Ever since, despite having different personalities, the duo continues to support one another as they raise their kids and participate in the community.

“I’m the planner and overthinker, and he is more of a go-with-the-flow person,” Courtney said. “I guess opposites attract in that our personalities have similarities, but our brains are definitely wired with a different configuration.”

After spending time in Hoover shortly after getting married, the couple moved to Calera, where they stayed for approximately four years. Once their first son, Brayden, reached school age, they knew they wanted to find a place where they could establish themselves and there was really one option — home.

“We knew our village is in Columbiana,” Courtney said. “Everything just kind of lined up.”

For Bobby, the decision to move back home after traveling the world was not an immediate answer but something he arrived at as he grew in age and experience.

“Growing up, I thought once I moved from Columbiana, I would never come back here because it’s a small town and as a kid you think there’s not much to do,” he said. “But as I got older and we got married and had kids, I realized the value of Columbiana … I always had support from people here in Columbiana growing up, and I want my kids to have that same experience.”

This article was originally published by The Shelby County Reporter.