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We're chatting about the people, places, events, and flavors that make Johnson City, Tennessee a lovely place to live. An interview show hosted by Colin Johnson.
Proud member of the Maypop Media family of podcasts.
0:00:00 - (Colin Johnson): It is a beautiful January day here. Maybe February when this is coming out. It's not super cold. It's been super snowy and super cold. And today is not too bad. It's like 48 degrees. It's like a heat wave. So I'm excited for you guys. Listeners to thank you, one, for listening to the podcast, but two, to meet this lovely young lady, Candace Hilton. Welcome to the podcast.
0:00:25 - (Candice Hilton): Thank you so much. I'm so glad you'd be here.
0:00:27 - (Colin Johnson): Well, we're. Thank you. Thank you for coming. I'm excited for you to be here. All right, so it's Johnson City Living. We always. The number one question is, I ask people what they love most about Johnson City, but you. Do you live in Johnson City or your Kingsport town?
0:00:40 - (Candice Hilton): I live in Kingsport.
0:00:42 - (Colin Johnson): Okay, so let's go Johnson. What do you love most about Johnson City? And then we'll hit Kingsport.
0:00:46 - (Candice Hilton): I think in Johnson City would be the culture. Yeah. There's always something new to do, new restaurant to try out or a new event or activity. So, yeah, there's always something fun to find.
0:01:00 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah. I think we always have something going on down here, which is good. Yeah. Kingsport, though, you guys. I mean, y'all are stepping it up. All right, so what's your. What's your favorite thing about Kingsport?
0:01:10 - (Candice Hilton): Oh, goodness. It's home.
0:01:12 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah. You're up there.
0:01:13 - (Candice Hilton): Yeah. Yeah. It's familiar. It's home. All my family, friends. It's. It's just the way of life for me.
0:01:20 - (Colin Johnson): Where did you go to high school?
0:01:21 - (Candice Hilton): South.
0:01:22 - (Colin Johnson): Okay. Sullivan South. I like it.
0:01:24 - (Candice Hilton): Yes.
0:01:25 - (Colin Johnson): I went to university. I. We used to play, you guys in tennis and in different. Some sports, some of the smaller sports. Because you were too big. You dominate us on the big steps. Okay, well, you're not here to talk about Kingsport or Johnson City. You're here to talk about your school.
0:01:38 - (Candice Hilton): Yes.
0:01:39 - (Colin Johnson): Hilton Horizons Academy.
0:01:41 - (Candice Hilton): Correct.
0:01:42 - (Colin Johnson): That's a mouthful.
0:01:43 - (Candice Hilton): Absolutely.
0:01:44 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah. I love her. So talk to us about Hilton Horizons Academy. What do you guys do? Well, what is it?
0:01:52 - (Candice Hilton): We are a hybrid micro school for K8 homeschoolers.
0:01:56 - (Colin Johnson): Okay, tell me what hybrid micro school means. Is it, like, super tiny and you get to run on gas a little bit and electricity at the same time?
0:02:05 - (Candice Hilton): Yeah.
0:02:06 - (Colin Johnson): Okay, perfect.
0:02:06 - (Candice Hilton): That's okay. I'd have that.
0:02:07 - (Colin Johnson): Never mind. I got that figured out, Mitch. That sounds like a cool place.
0:02:11 - (Candice Hilton): Check us over. So we have flexible schedules, so that allows homeschoolers to keep that homeschool routine.
0:02:19 - (Colin Johnson): Gotcha.
0:02:20 - (Candice Hilton): But they also have the structure, enrichment, and Larger group of kids to do activities and all the things that we do. And so that's why we call it hybrid, because you get that homeschool feel as well as that school field.
0:02:36 - (Colin Johnson): A little social integration.
0:02:38 - (Candice Hilton): Enrichment.
0:02:38 - (Colin Johnson): Enrichment, yeah.
0:02:39 - (Candice Hilton): Art projects. We bring a lot of the community in.
0:02:42 - (Colin Johnson): I think it makes a lot of sense, too, because you're sharing. Sharing ideas and you're probably sharing teachers and space and all that fun stuff.
0:02:47 - (Candice Hilton): Yes.
0:02:49 - (Colin Johnson): How did this idea come about where you're like, I'm a homeschooler and there's nowhere to take my kids and I gotta.
0:02:55 - (Candice Hilton): Well, actually, I started as a public school teacher.
0:02:57 - (Colin Johnson): Okay.
0:02:58 - (Candice Hilton): That decided I would like to homeschool my child.
0:03:00 - (Colin Johnson): Okay.
0:03:01 - (Candice Hilton): And yes. Then that's where that came from was as the thought was coming to me to homeschool and doing all of the research, everything seemed to be all over the place.
0:03:10 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah.
0:03:10 - (Candice Hilton): And I thought, wouldn't it be great if we could just bring it all together? So we actually help parents get started with homeschooling. We provide curriculum, we do enrichment. We do the academics, we do social hours. So it's all in one place. And I thought, if my daughter would love this, then the community would love this. And so I threw the idea out there and we just continue to grow.
0:03:32 - (Colin Johnson): When does it start?
0:03:33 - (Candice Hilton): August.
0:03:34 - (Colin Johnson): It just started in August. So we're really fresh. And, like, how many people are there now?
0:03:40 - (Candice Hilton): We have 22 kids enrolled.
0:03:41 - (Colin Johnson): That's pretty cool.
0:03:42 - (Candice Hilton): Yes. Look at you go. Thank you.
0:03:45 - (Colin Johnson): What's the vision of it? How big is it going to get? Well, you're going to take DB Down?
0:03:48 - (Candice Hilton): No, no, no, no. We. We. We don't have plans to do anything like that. We do want to expand our reach.
0:03:54 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah.
0:03:55 - (Candice Hilton): And. But we like to keep that school's feel, but we want it to be small because we provide personalized lesson planning. So everybody's where they need to be at. And we do individual tutoring with one to ones. We do small groups. And so we want to maintain that. What makes it magical. You know, if we got too big, then we wouldn't be able to do all the things that we do.
0:04:21 - (Colin Johnson): Right.
0:04:22 - (Candice Hilton): So.
0:04:22 - (Colin Johnson): Well, that's cool. Yeah. What do you think the percentage of homeschoolers is? You probably know this number.
0:04:29 - (Candice Hilton): It is.
0:04:30 - (Colin Johnson): Your eyes got really big.
0:04:32 - (Candice Hilton): I know. It's. It's growing tremendously.
0:04:35 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah. And there's an education bureau on the floor right now to help with that. Is that right?
0:04:40 - (Candice Hilton): It is. It's an ESA voucher of sorts that would help with funding for parents if they wanted to do charter schools or private schools and things like that.
0:04:49 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah.
0:04:49 - (Candice Hilton): So.
0:04:50 - (Colin Johnson): Or Hilton Horizon.
0:04:51 - (Candice Hilton): Or Hilton Horizons. Yes. If it came down to it, then that would be something.
0:04:55 - (Colin Johnson): She's Hilton Horizons.
0:04:56 - (Candice Hilton): Yeah.
0:04:56 - (Colin Johnson): Not too many of you.
0:04:58 - (Candice Hilton): Yeah, no, there's not. There's not. And it's a nice service for parents because it is drop off so parents don't have to stay.
0:05:04 - (Colin Johnson): Gotcha.
0:05:05 - (Candice Hilton): And all of our teachers are certified, so they still get that aspect of academics. And also, like I said, we bring in enrichment, so they also get the community. We have mad our abstract arts and murals. Another mouthful.
0:05:18 - (Colin Johnson): That is a big mouth.
0:05:20 - (Candice Hilton): Yeah. She comes in and teaches art class, so that's pretty awesome. And we have. I code. They come in and teach a coding class.
0:05:26 - (Colin Johnson): We had them on the podcast.
0:05:27 - (Candice Hilton): Oh, yeah.
0:05:27 - (Colin Johnson): Probably six months ago.
0:05:29 - (Candice Hilton): Yeah. They come in on Fridays and do a class. And then we just hired a Spanish teacher. And a lot of what we do is what the kids are passionate about. So when the kids come up and they're like, I want to learn Spanish. Okay, let's bring in a Spanish teacher. Or, I want to learn this new art project. So then Madison brings them that and it's. It's good. It's nice.
0:05:49 - (Colin Johnson): That's cool. Yeah, I guess. Thinking about homeschooling, what. What was the reason you chose to go there? And I mean, there might be some listeners going, I've been thinking about it. Is it really hard? Is it, you know, like, I'm. I'm going to be ill equipped. I think, like, it sounds like you come alongside homeschoolers and help them thrive and grow and absolutely do well, right?
0:06:13 - (Candice Hilton): Yes, yes. They're doing phenomenal. It's amazing to watch these kids that just blossom and thrive and probably the.
0:06:20 - (Colin Johnson): Parents who are, I mean, some people aren't, you know, they weren't. Didn't go to school to be a teacher like yourself, but they want to be a home school mom or dad. And yes, you kind of help them out as well. Right? You said something about curriculum.
0:06:33 - (Candice Hilton): Yes, absolutely. We. So we have some families that come in and it's. They come three days and they want just what curriculum they are using taught. So we have Saxon or Good and the Beautiful, and we will utilize that and we will teach to that curriculum. And then we have some parents, like you said, that are not sure about homeschooling. Haven't done homeschooling yet. And so for those parents, we offer curriculum. We have math, and we also have an ELA program.
0:06:59 - (Candice Hilton): And then we build science and Social studies into our enrichments.
0:07:02 - (Colin Johnson): Gotcha.
0:07:03 - (Candice Hilton): So they get that access as well as part of the program. And for homeschooling, I'm not going to say it's easy. It does take heart and it takes some patience because there is a lot that goes into teaching.
0:07:17 - (Colin Johnson): 100%.
0:07:18 - (Candice Hilton): Yeah. But it's completely doable. And we support that process. 110%. We support that process. We support it with curriculum. If you need to do a zoom for tutoring, if you need to help fill out paperwork to get yourself going, we have access to all of those things as well. And every step of the way, if there's a question, we're there to make.
0:07:38 - (Colin Johnson): Sure that you could be even a resource. If somebody's listening. You're like, I just want to learn more about homeschooling.
0:07:42 - (Candice Hilton): Absolutely.
0:07:43 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah. Reach out to you.
0:07:44 - (Candice Hilton): Yes. And I see people on Facebook all the time. They're like, I think I want to homeschool, but I'm not really sure. And I'm like, please just message me. I will gladly. I will give you any information I have and I will help you in any way I can.
0:07:54 - (Colin Johnson): What's a giveaway for people to do that?
0:07:56 - (Candice Hilton): Oh, goodness. We have a lot of ways. We have a website.
0:07:59 - (Colin Johnson): Okay.
0:08:00 - (Candice Hilton): Hilton Horizons academy dot com.
0:08:02 - (Colin Johnson): Perfect.
0:08:02 - (Candice Hilton): We have a Facebook page and we have an Instagram page so they can message us on those. And on our website, we have a contact page so they can set up a link for a tour or they could just send us an email and shoot a couple questions to us.
0:08:15 - (Colin Johnson): Nice.
0:08:15 - (Candice Hilton): Yeah.
0:08:15 - (Colin Johnson): Where is it located?
0:08:17 - (Candice Hilton): Right now we're downtown Kingsport.
0:08:18 - (Colin Johnson): Okay. And so is it all day? Tell me about the hours it is.
0:08:23 - (Candice Hilton): We do. Our drop off is 8:30 to 9 and our pickup is 3 to 3:30.
0:08:27 - (Colin Johnson): Okay.
0:08:27 - (Candice Hilton): And we have a two day, a three day and a five day program. Oh, wow.
0:08:31 - (Colin Johnson): So you could be a homeschooler that drops her kid off a Hilton Horizon.
0:08:34 - (Candice Hilton): Yes.
0:08:35 - (Colin Johnson): And just you guys handle.
0:08:37 - (Candice Hilton): Correct.
0:08:37 - (Colin Johnson): Oh, that's cool.
0:08:38 - (Candice Hilton): Yeah.
0:08:38 - (Colin Johnson): So it's kind of like private school sort of on some. In a hybrid sort of, but with.
0:08:43 - (Candice Hilton): Flexibility of being a homeschooler, which is nice.
0:08:45 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah.
0:08:46 - (Candice Hilton): So if on a Thursday you want to go to the zoo instead. Go to the zoo.
0:08:50 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah.
0:08:50 - (Candice Hilton): You're going to learn a lot at the zoo.
0:08:52 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah, I think it's cool too. Like we've had quite a few friends at homeschool and they can condense the school day down to like a third of the day. Right. Because there's a lot of there's a lot of moving around from class to class. I mean, there's a lot of fluff.
0:09:07 - (Candice Hilton): Yeah.
0:09:07 - (Colin Johnson): So they're like, I think it's super cool.
0:09:09 - (Candice Hilton): Yeah.
0:09:10 - (Colin Johnson): Thank you.
0:09:11 - (Candice Hilton): We take a lot of the fluff out and put in room for different enrichment and hands on learning and activities and all the stuff the kids want to do. Like in everything we learn, we learn. Okay. For instance, we did for density, we made lava lamps.
0:09:25 - (Colin Johnson): Nice.
0:09:25 - (Candice Hilton): So kids are going to remember those things.
0:09:26 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah, we keep them around.
0:09:28 - (Candice Hilton): Yeah. And when we were learning about molecules, we made solar ovens. So we, we roasted marshmallows together.
0:09:35 - (Colin Johnson): Sweet.
0:09:35 - (Candice Hilton): And so everything we do, we try to make sure that it's something that A, they're going to remember because they enjoyed learning it and B, they got to use their creativity while they were doing it.
0:09:45 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah. So for sure.
0:09:47 - (Candice Hilton): Because it's super important. I think that's how kids hold on to what they've learned.
0:09:50 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah. What are some of the other fun and exciting things you're doing? Because you were talking like when you got on, you're like, I want to talk about the exciting things we're doing.
0:09:56 - (Candice Hilton): Oh, yeah. We are doing all kinds of fun stuff. And so some of the things that we have coming up, we are. We have a fossil day coming up. So we have a guy that's going to come in and teach all about dinosaurs and the kids are going to get to make these clay molds of fossil replicas.
0:10:10 - (Colin Johnson): That's cool.
0:10:10 - (Candice Hilton): Yeah, it's gonna be really awesome. We are like. So we just added Spanish as a new enrichment, so we're super excited about that. And then. Yes. Yeah. I'm learning as we go too. I'm learning days of the week and all kinds of new sayings. She teaches a new saying every day, so that's cool. Yeah, it's a lot of fun. And we have field trips. We do field trips. We have one plan to a farm. So that's going to be a really exciting time. The kids are going to love that. And they get to ride a horse. So that'll be even.
0:10:38 - (Colin Johnson): That'll be fun.
0:10:39 - (Candice Hilton): Yeah, I know. And we are an. We have a lot of new themes that are coming up. We're doing ocean themes. We have a NASA theme coming up. So we have a lot of new. Every month we have a different theme. And so that's what we base all of our projects on. And we are doing for Valentine's Day we're doing an etiquette party. So that's going to be really neat.
0:10:58 - (Colin Johnson): I Love it.
0:10:59 - (Candice Hilton): Yeah. The kids are going to get to have a fancy luncheon and so we're going to like.
0:11:02 - (Colin Johnson): We sent our son. Sons to Cotillon.
0:11:05 - (Candice Hilton): Yes.
0:11:05 - (Colin Johnson): And I thought it was great.
0:11:06 - (Candice Hilton): Yeah. Yeah. So they're going to get to have the fancy napkins and, and the candlelight and the three courses and so something that kids, you know, don't get to experience a lot.
0:11:15 - (Colin Johnson): So. Yeah, I think that's awesome. What do you love most about the school?
0:11:25 - (Candice Hilton): That's a hard question. Can I be cheesy and say all of it?
0:11:28 - (Colin Johnson): You can say that and then I'm.
0:11:30 - (Candice Hilton): Going to go, come on, you're going to want more.
0:11:33 - (Colin Johnson): It could be all of it. Because you probably love the interaction with the other teachers, the other students.
0:11:37 - (Candice Hilton): I do, I do. I love that we are building. I feel like I use the word community so much, but it really is, it's, it's just like a big family.
0:11:46 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah.
0:11:46 - (Candice Hilton): And the parents, they come in in the morning and drop off and so I get to actually talk to them. I know how their day's going. You know, we build that connection and most of them are friends and it's just, it's neat to, to really be involved in the kids lives and what they're doing and we build their goals together. And so that's really nice to know where they've started and where we're going and to be able to work cohesively.
0:12:12 - (Candice Hilton): Just watching the kids blossom. There was somebody that they're like, oh, this one can't read or this one's having this issue or this and, and we're able to really adapt to where that we can, we can help with that and we can work through those issues and we can support those issues and a lot of those issues don't exist anymore.
0:12:26 - (Colin Johnson): Well, and I think, and it sounds like to me with 22 people, it's a very 22 children throughout the, the program for the whole day. And I'm sure they're in different classes. It's a really small environment. Right. So if you don't have the ability to read, it's okay to raise your hand. Be like, you know, Ms. Candace, I don't know how to do this.
0:12:43 - (Candice Hilton): Yes.
0:12:43 - (Colin Johnson): And feel very comfortable doing it as opposed to I've got 30 other people.
0:12:46 - (Candice Hilton): Around me going, absolutely. And we do everything ability based.
0:12:49 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah.
0:12:50 - (Candice Hilton): Which is great. We do a test that tells us exactly where each child is on each standard. And so then they're all in that group. So nobody really knows any different. They're all together to Learn to read, or they're all together to learn place value, or they're all together to learn, you know, about friction. So when it's like that, you said the kids are more comfortable. Like you said, they're more apt to participate. And to want to be involved in what you're doing versus wanting to hide and not answer questions and then just kind of moving along and not really understanding.
0:13:20 - (Colin Johnson): And probably the teachers are specifically tailoring it to the child. Like, I understand this child. I want to. I know they don't love music. Maybe. Maybe they love outdoors. And I'm going to take this and do it outdoors or whatever. Yes. Or you couldn't do that in a. In a public setting because you got so many people and can't take them outdoors.
0:13:38 - (Candice Hilton): Yes, absolutely. And we love the outdoors. We actually had the kids build raised garden beds and. Yeah. And we planted gardens, and we got to vote when in the garden. And we ended up actually, instead of just doing one, we did three.
0:13:51 - (Colin Johnson): Everybody. All right. Everybody wins. Everybody gets a base.
0:13:54 - (Candice Hilton): Everybody got a vegetable. Well, we actually did an herb garden, a pollinator garden, and a veggie garden.
0:14:00 - (Colin Johnson): Cool.
0:14:01 - (Candice Hilton): And so that was kind of exciting.
0:14:02 - (Colin Johnson): Have you eaten a meal from the garden?
0:14:04 - (Candice Hilton): Well, we have eight tomato, and we've ate beets, and we've ate peppers, and we made some soup for Thanksgiving. Yeah. Yeah, that was. It was pretty neat.
0:14:11 - (Colin Johnson): That is pretty cool.
0:14:12 - (Candice Hilton): Yeah, I think.
0:14:13 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah. Life skills, right?
0:14:14 - (Candice Hilton): Absolutely. Life skills are so important, and we do make sure that they get a lot of life skills. Yeah.
0:14:20 - (Colin Johnson): That's awesome.
0:14:21 - (Candice Hilton): Yes.
0:14:23 - (Colin Johnson): All right. Kingsport.
0:14:25 - (Candice Hilton): Yes.
0:14:26 - (Colin Johnson): You live there. You've grown up there. Talk to our listeners, because we don't have many Kings for Tonians on the Johnson City Living.
0:14:31 - (Candice Hilton): Yes.
0:14:32 - (Colin Johnson): Podcast. So I. I've sold a number of houses up there I know pretty well, but what's your favorite thing in Kingsport? Like, if you were just telling somebody to go to Kingsport and check it out, what would be your highlights?
0:14:44 - (Candice Hilton): Oh, the farmer's market.
0:14:46 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah.
0:14:47 - (Candice Hilton): Yeah. I love the farmers market. When it's open, it's really neat. And it's near the carousel and a park.
0:14:52 - (Colin Johnson): So downtown.
0:14:53 - (Candice Hilton): Yes, downtown. That. That's really nice, girls.
0:14:55 - (Colin Johnson): Downtown is cool.
0:14:57 - (Candice Hilton): Yeah. Yeah, it is.
0:14:58 - (Colin Johnson): It's a little bigger than Johnson City's downtown.
0:15:00 - (Candice Hilton): A little bit y. And it's coming along pretty well.
0:15:02 - (Colin Johnson): It is.
0:15:03 - (Candice Hilton): Got some new restaurants coming in, and we have. They do, like, a shop and hop on the weekends, and so that's kind of neat on Friday sometimes. And so they stay open a little Bit later for people to go to different stores and such. And so, yeah, I think that. So that would be something.
0:15:19 - (Colin Johnson): That Farmers market carousel. Where else would you tell people to. To check out? Oh, and obviously, drive by Eastman. That place is amazing.
0:15:30 - (Candice Hilton): So big.
0:15:31 - (Colin Johnson): It was so big. It's like 4 billion acres of pipes.
0:15:34 - (Candice Hilton): Yes.
0:15:35 - (Colin Johnson): Just tubes and everywhere. Yeah.
0:15:37 - (Candice Hilton): And, I mean, you can see from all different roads and everything.
0:15:40 - (Colin Johnson): I've got a buddy who works there, actually. My brother works there occasionally. He works from home mainly, but one of my buddies is there all the time, and he. Yeah, he's sending me pictures of it, and it's just unreal.
0:15:49 - (Candice Hilton): It is massive.
0:15:50 - (Colin Johnson): It is massive.
0:15:50 - (Candice Hilton): It is absolutely massive.
0:15:51 - (Colin Johnson): Yes.
0:15:53 - (Candice Hilton): Yeah.
0:15:53 - (Colin Johnson): Drive by Eastman. What about. You ever go to Warriors Park? Yeah, State Park. Yeah, I think that place is cool.
0:16:01 - (Candice Hilton): It is. And they've done a lot of improvements here lately. They've put in a new marina area, and it's got, like, a snack bar and some different things.
0:16:07 - (Colin Johnson): That's cool.
0:16:08 - (Candice Hilton): Yeah.
0:16:09 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah. Duck Island's pretty neat out there. You can go take a walk around there.
0:16:12 - (Candice Hilton): Yeah, yeah. We actually just had Marty Silver at the school, and he's the park ranger that's out there, so.
0:16:17 - (Colin Johnson): Oh, that's cool.
0:16:18 - (Candice Hilton): Yeah. Yeah, he's. He's pretty awesome.
0:16:20 - (Colin Johnson): The playground there is off the chain.
0:16:22 - (Candice Hilton): It is. It is so big. And there's trails and, I mean, there's something for everybody.
0:16:27 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah. And camping. You can go camping out there. My wife's parents used to camp out there occasionally. They live in Bristol. And all of a sudden we were. We were kind of chuckling about, oh, you really went far to camp. You know? But when we got there, it was really cool. Like, it was really nice. Like, we were like, oh, this is really neat.
0:16:44 - (Candice Hilton): Yeah.
0:16:45 - (Colin Johnson): I mean, and I grew up going there. My dad and mom would. We'd have picnics and grill out, and it was cool. It was cool. What do you. And what do you guys like to do for fun and team sport?
0:16:54 - (Candice Hilton): Oh, goodness. I'm such a homebody sometimes. Yeah. Like, I just enjoy being at the school, and then I go home and I. We have chickens and ducks and the kids and just kind of homebodies.
0:17:06 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah, That's a good thing.
0:17:07 - (Candice Hilton): Yeah.
0:17:07 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah. So we can talk to people about chickens and ducks.
0:17:10 - (Candice Hilton): Absolutely. I can take all that. What kind of things about chickens and ducks?
0:17:13 - (Colin Johnson): Everybody seems to want chickens. Mitch is a crazy chicken guy. Our producer over here. He's got chickens. I bet he has his chickens. He even put in a light bulb the other day when it was like, negative 40 degrees. I was like. Because I was going, mitch, you got to take care of those chickens. They're freezing. Like, I just. I think I called you at 2am While I woke up, and I was worried about the chickens.
0:17:34 - (Candice Hilton): No, you got to take care of them.
0:17:35 - (Colin Johnson): You do. That's.
0:17:36 - (Candice Hilton): Feed them treats. And they all have names and. Yeah.
0:17:39 - (Colin Johnson): Talk to us about Chick. Like, is it. I mean, you know, you. You get eggs from them, but it's kind of some work, right? I mean.
0:17:48 - (Candice Hilton): Oh, yeah, it's a lot of work.
0:17:50 - (Colin Johnson): Is it worth it? Is, like, I mean, I don't know. I enjoy just picking up a dozen eggs from my chicken friends.
0:17:57 - (Candice Hilton): Yeah.
0:17:57 - (Colin Johnson): As opposed to having to herd chickens around the town.
0:18:01 - (Candice Hilton): I guess you get attached to them, like pets.
0:18:04 - (Colin Johnson): Okay. I thought that might be the.
0:18:06 - (Candice Hilton): Which is kind of strange. So that you have chickens for pets, but we do. We have 14 of them. And you do get attached to them.
0:18:11 - (Colin Johnson): That's a lot.
0:18:12 - (Candice Hilton): Yeah.
0:18:12 - (Colin Johnson): They have ducks, too.
0:18:13 - (Candice Hilton): Yes. Yeah, we have just two of those.
0:18:15 - (Colin Johnson): Okay.
0:18:16 - (Candice Hilton): They are messy. I don't. I think two is more than enough on that.
0:18:20 - (Colin Johnson): Any other farm animals? No, no, just chickens and ducks.
0:18:23 - (Candice Hilton): Just chickens and ducks.
0:18:24 - (Colin Johnson): Right. Okay.
0:18:24 - (Candice Hilton): Yeah.
0:18:25 - (Colin Johnson): Did your husband, like, is he into the chickens and ducks, or was that one of your things? You're like.
0:18:31 - (Candice Hilton): It was kind of one of the things that he's into now.
0:18:36 - (Colin Johnson): Gotcha. Yes. Sometimes our lives say, this is going to be a great idea. We're going to do this.
0:18:41 - (Candice Hilton): It was like, I'm going to go get four, and I come home with 12. And so then he's building the run and. But he. He loves it just as much as.
0:18:49 - (Colin Johnson): That's fine. Is he involved with the school at all? Is he doing other stuff?
0:18:52 - (Candice Hilton): He works, but he does help at the school. He's been very, very helpful.
0:18:55 - (Colin Johnson): What does he do?
0:18:57 - (Candice Hilton): He works, actually, in Oak Ridge. Oh, well, yeah.
0:18:59 - (Colin Johnson): That's all. Every day.
0:19:01 - (Candice Hilton): It is. It is. He works down there. He works at ucore and he loves his job. He does help. He helped build the playground, and he comes and helps do all the odds and end things that need to be done to keep things going. And he's very supportive on scheduling and all of those things.
0:19:17 - (Colin Johnson): That's cool.
0:19:18 - (Candice Hilton): Yes, that's cool.
0:19:19 - (Colin Johnson): And he's got lots of time to listen to podcasts like this one.
0:19:21 - (Candice Hilton): Absolutely.
0:19:22 - (Colin Johnson): On his drive down.
0:19:23 - (Candice Hilton): He does a ton of times.
0:19:26 - (Colin Johnson): Candace's husband. Please subscribe to us. All right, so where did you go to school for? To. To learn how to teach Tusculum. Tusculum in Greenville?
0:19:36 - (Candice Hilton): Yes.
0:19:36 - (Colin Johnson): Good for you.
0:19:37 - (Candice Hilton): I did.
0:19:38 - (Colin Johnson): How did you choose Tuscalum? Do you want to stay close?
0:19:41 - (Candice Hilton): It worked with my work schedule. To be completely honest. It was a second choice of. I originally went to school for something different and then decided that I really wanted to be a teacher. So it worked with my school schedule, and it was a great program. And the people there are amazing, and they are. They sincerely want you to learn and to be able to achieve what you're doing. And they always were accommodating and just most wonderful people. And I felt very secure in my education through them.
0:20:10 - (Colin Johnson): Sounds good.
0:20:11 - (Candice Hilton): Yes.
0:20:11 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah. And then. So you stayed local.
0:20:13 - (Candice Hilton): Yes.
0:20:13 - (Colin Johnson): And. And then you taught public school for how long?
0:20:18 - (Candice Hilton): Seven years.
0:20:19 - (Colin Johnson): Okay. And then when did you get the itch to say, I'm going to be a homeschooler? What caused all that?
0:20:26 - (Candice Hilton): Christmas in 2023. I just wanted to spend time with my family. I felt like we were always busy and life is always going so fast, and I thought it would just be nice just to slow down. And so that's where that came from. And so in the process of slowing down, we sped right back up. But now my. My daughter is with me, and that's really nice. And our oldest one, we have him homeschool too, and he's going Northeast State through a dual enrollment program.
0:20:57 - (Colin Johnson): Okay, cool.
0:20:58 - (Candice Hilton): So because you're.
0:20:59 - (Colin Johnson): The Hilton Horizon Academy is only K through 8. 8. Okay.
0:21:04 - (Candice Hilton): Yes, currently.
0:21:05 - (Colin Johnson): Gotcha.
0:21:05 - (Candice Hilton): Yes.
0:21:06 - (Colin Johnson): What are the homeschooling options after that? Like after 8th grade?
0:21:10 - (Candice Hilton): We plan to expand.
0:21:11 - (Colin Johnson): Okay.
0:21:11 - (Candice Hilton): We do have a couple of eighth graders. And so we have talked to some other groups and other resources that where we would be able to bring in high school for those students. So that is one of our long term goals or I guess shorter term goals. Now it's getting closer. So we're. We're working on that in the process now.
0:21:33 - (Colin Johnson): That's cool. Yeah, I think there's a lot of resources because there are a lot of homeschoolers around.
0:21:38 - (Candice Hilton): There he is.
0:21:38 - (Colin Johnson): And so is there like a community of you guys? Do you like, have monthly meetings? You get together in homeschool?
0:21:45 - (Candice Hilton): Like, there's a lot of Facebook groups.
0:21:47 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah.
0:21:48 - (Candice Hilton): And so you can find a lot of meetups through that. They have PE for homeschoolers and they have a ton of activities at like Little Bloom has times that you can go and meet up. And Founders Place, which is actually where I'm located, below me, they have meetup. She does like board games and Bible studies and different things. So there's a huge homeschool population.
0:22:13 - (Colin Johnson): That's cool.
0:22:14 - (Candice Hilton): And there are a lot of choices that you can make and a lot.
0:22:17 - (Colin Johnson): Of them are faith based. Right? I mean like a lot are. A lot are.
0:22:21 - (Candice Hilton): Yeah.
0:22:21 - (Colin Johnson): You guys faith based or.
0:22:22 - (Candice Hilton): No, we are considered secular, but we are just, we, we say we're conservative, we meet all of our families and we all are like minded but we have secular curriculum and we have people that bring in good and the beautiful. It's a Christian curriculum. And so we, we are there to teach and do enrichment.
0:22:40 - (Colin Johnson): Gotcha. Okay. That's cool. Yeah, yeah. Where do you see the. The future of your academy going?
0:22:50 - (Candice Hilton): To be completely honest, we thought that it would just be my daughter and a few students hanging out. I had tutored and we had spoke to some locals and they were like, hey, could you do this for us as well? Sure, we can do that. So we started with nine and now we have 21. So I guess we will continue to grow and try to just maintain our small groups and maintain our one to ones and things like that, but we do look to expand our reach.
0:23:17 - (Colin Johnson): Okay. Yeah. And I would think that you like have little pods around town maybe as opposed to one central church or you know, school. Sorry.
0:23:24 - (Candice Hilton): Yes. And that's what we're looking into currently.
0:23:26 - (Colin Johnson): You probably, as I say churches, you could probably use those to. They're not doing a whole lot during the week. It drives me nuts to drive by all these big beautiful buildings and sometimes there's stuff going on, but it's usually in the evenings or whatever. But during the day there's. Most of these churches are vacant.
0:23:41 - (Candice Hilton): Yes.
0:23:41 - (Colin Johnson): I think there's a lot of opportunity there to, to use those buildings. I'm sure those folks would love to have it, have it done. Have you there. Who are some of the people who've helped you along the way or been influential to you that you'd like to give a shout out to?
0:23:58 - (Candice Hilton): Well, I joined COD and they were very helpful. It's new and they help build micro schools. So they give you curriculum advice, a family so you have somebody to talk to as you're working through the process.
0:24:13 - (Colin Johnson): That's cool.
0:24:14 - (Candice Hilton): It's great. And so I'm very thankful for them. My husband, he's wonderful. He's been extremely supportive the entire.
0:24:21 - (Colin Johnson): What's his name?
0:24:22 - (Candice Hilton): Jesse.
0:24:22 - (Colin Johnson): Jesse. Way to go, bro. Doing a good job.
0:24:26 - (Candice Hilton): He's been amazing. He's been phenomenal. So my family, they're always rooting for us. My mom, his mom, our kids.
0:24:36 - (Colin Johnson): That's cool. Yeah, it's like a family, you know, like, everybody's invested.
0:24:39 - (Candice Hilton): It really is. It really is. I've literally called my oldest son and I'm like, hey, there's a football stuck on the. On the roof. Can you come and bring a ladder? So here he comes. And, you know, my. My middle son, he does culinary, and so I'm like, hey, you want to come teach how to fold napkins? So, yes, it's definitely a family process.
0:24:56 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah, that's cool. Well, I'm looking forward to hearing more about it and watching it expand. What are some of the tough things you've had to deal with by putting together this school? I'm sure it's not all sunshine and roses every day.
0:25:10 - (Candice Hilton): It's not. It isn't. The business side of it has definitely been. I'm a teacher at heart. I love teaching, and I could do that all day long. Business was new for me, so that was definitely something. I had to sit back and take time and really learn the process and the ins and outs, and sometimes I think that I've got it. And then I realized I'm still learning, so. So we just keep pushing through. Yeah.
0:25:34 - (Candice Hilton): But, yeah, I guess the business side of it would probably be the. The most interesting thing I've had to deal with. Location. Location has definitely been interesting. We actually just put a post out on Facebook that we are growing, so we're looking for a space, and there are so many criteria for what we have to meet for the space we need. So that's been interesting looking. But we've come across a few options we believe we have now. So that's. Yeah, that's getting better. But yeah, I would say just mostly business side teaching part. I love it and it's great. And we don't do a pacing guide, so every month we do different themes. And so it's just fun. And I truly look forward to every day just going in and getting. Hang out with the kids and learn new stuff and being able to just adapt to their passions. And so that. That part has been. That part is sunshine and rainbows.
0:26:24 - (Colin Johnson): That's part. Tell me. Tell us about the. Like, whatever the cost. Like, if I want to send my third grader there, I don't have a third Cardinal and I. We're reluctant. We're empty nesters right now. Sorta. One of them, he goes to Etsu, so he comes home frequently.
0:26:40 - (Candice Hilton): But yeah, they don't go too far.
0:26:42 - (Colin Johnson): They don't go too far. One's in Knoxville. He might. He wants to go far so we'll see where he goes. But yeah, like if I want to send somebody there, how much is it?
0:26:50 - (Candice Hilton): So we have three different schedules.
0:26:53 - (Colin Johnson): Okay.
0:26:54 - (Candice Hilton): So we do monthly payments. And so for a two day, for the month is $340.
0:27:00 - (Colin Johnson): Okay.
0:27:00 - (Candice Hilton): For a three day, for the month is $490 and then for a full time is $775.
0:27:07 - (Colin Johnson): It's not too bad.
0:27:08 - (Candice Hilton): No. And it includes the curriculum and the field trips and all the enrichments in the afternoon and so.
0:27:14 - (Colin Johnson): Gotcha. Do you guys take off like holidays and fall break, spring break?
0:27:20 - (Candice Hilton): We do. We follow a typical school schedule, but we also try to offer spring break cancer summer camps if we can and things to help families. We don't always follow all of the school closures with weather and things like that.
0:27:34 - (Colin Johnson): Because you're so small.
0:27:35 - (Candice Hilton): Yeah.
0:27:35 - (Colin Johnson): That you're like, wait, am I at school?
0:27:37 - (Candice Hilton): Yeah.
0:27:37 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah. So that's cool. Yeah, that's cool. What advice would you give a mom or a dad thinking about getting into to homeschooling?
0:27:51 - (Candice Hilton): I would say go for it.
0:27:53 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah.
0:27:54 - (Candice Hilton): Like really, truly. Because it's amazing just to be able to be the parent and be the person that's seeing them as they grow. There's so much time lost, I feel like. And so if you could have that flexibility in your life with the scheduling, then it's just amazing to be able to be there with them.
0:28:14 - (Colin Johnson): Sure.
0:28:14 - (Candice Hilton): And. And so that's another reason why we did the flexibility. Because you can come to us two days, we'll tutor, we'll help you with reading. The other day is sleeping and snuggle and go to the zoo and, and do all of those things. Right, right.
0:28:28 - (Colin Johnson): Have a picnic.
0:28:28 - (Candice Hilton): Yes. Yeah.
0:28:29 - (Colin Johnson): Do things.
0:28:30 - (Candice Hilton): Absolutely. And the, the reading and, and the core subjects and all of those things, they, they come in time and they do learn them and all the curriculums will help and they'll. But I feel like you lose so much time with your kids.
0:28:43 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah.
0:28:43 - (Candice Hilton): Through the day.
0:28:44 - (Colin Johnson): I agree. I think, yeah, the schools have them for eight or nine hours a day, you know, a lot of the time. And you pick them up and you, you know, you got to feed them and get homework done and then they got to go to bed. And so you see them for like three hours or four hours and they're exhausted. And you're exhausted because you're at the end of the year day. And yeah, I could see just quality time with your family being just awesome.
0:29:06 - (Candice Hilton): It is, it's huge. And there's no homework because it's all done during the day.
0:29:10 - (Colin Johnson): There you go. Yeah. We're doing it all the time at home.
0:29:14 - (Candice Hilton): That's right.
0:29:14 - (Colin Johnson): It's all. It's just called work.
0:29:15 - (Candice Hilton): It is. But you can do it on your own schedule.
0:29:19 - (Colin Johnson): Anything recently that you've read or that's Inspired you?
0:29:23 - (Candice Hilton): Carrie McDonald is awesome.
0:29:25 - (Colin Johnson): Carrie McDonald, who's car.
0:29:27 - (Candice Hilton): She is really big in the micro school homeschool movement, and she has a liberated podcast and she has wrote some books on unschooling and just different. She has, like, articles that she does now. And so there's a lot of educational articles and just kind of the whole homeschool movement. And it's really inspiring to see that the movement's moving across the country. There's so many people now that are going to homeschooling and that are looking for alternatives for their kids for education.
0:29:55 - (Colin Johnson): What do you think's driving that?
0:29:59 - (Candice Hilton): I don't. I hate to say schools aren't what schools used to be because I feel like that's always what people say and. But really, I think that being able to homeschool, you can really focus in on your own child. You can really focus in on how they learn and what they want to learn. And if they learn through a passion, they're going to learn so much quicker and it's going to stick. You don't have all of the testing that you would have in a regular school day.
0:30:28 - (Colin Johnson): So, I mean, it's a more secure environment.
0:30:31 - (Candice Hilton): It is. And you get to kind of dictate what your child learns and how your child learns.
0:30:37 - (Colin Johnson): And I think that's probably a lot of it. Like, what are they learning and how they're learning? You know, maybe not. Yeah. I think how is probably a part of it too, but probably what is the big one? Right.
0:30:46 - (Candice Hilton): I think so.
0:30:47 - (Colin Johnson): There's just so much weird stuff going on in the school system. And you're like, why would you even want it? To put that in some kid's mind? You know, it just doesn't make sense to me.
0:30:58 - (Candice Hilton): Yes. And then if you end up with it, like my. My daughter, she is the world's biggest fidgeter, and she moves and she is active. And so sitting still for that long period of time in kindergarten, first grade, it just was not feasible for her. And so you can see difference. And we take a lot of breaks. Even at the academy, we. We do a subject, we take a snack break and we go play. And we do a subject and we go play with play. D'oh. And we do. You know, that sounds good. Yeah. So they get A lot of time outside and they. They get the chance to move. And we have flex seating, so they have cushions that are a bench or they have wobble chairs. They have. And so I think that too, is a thing for kids. They need to be able to have that access if they're more kinesthetic or if they're more visual. And so homeschooling and things like this, you can adapt that as well.
0:31:44 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah, I think that's cool. Yeah, it sounds like a lot and just a really fun place.
0:31:49 - (Candice Hilton): It is. Yeah, it is.
0:31:51 - (Colin Johnson): And tell me where it's located again.
0:31:53 - (Candice Hilton): We're downtown Kingsport right now, right across from the farmer's market. We're in the Atlas Culinary in the loft space.
0:31:59 - (Colin Johnson): Oh, yeah.
0:31:59 - (Candice Hilton): Okay. But like I said, we are expanding.
0:32:02 - (Colin Johnson): Work, so we're looking for a new space. So you may be on the move pretty soon.
0:32:05 - (Candice Hilton): Yes, yes.
0:32:07 - (Colin Johnson): Well, that's exciting.
0:32:08 - (Candice Hilton): We'll keep updated with our community and our current families and all of those lovely things as we move around and we like. So we're very active on our Facebook page and our Instagram page.
0:32:18 - (Colin Johnson): How do you get to your Facebook page?
0:32:19 - (Candice Hilton): It is Hilton Horizons Academy.
0:32:21 - (Colin Johnson): Hilton Horizons Academy.
0:32:23 - (Candice Hilton): Everything's Hilton Horizons Academy.
0:32:24 - (Colin Johnson): There you go. I love it.
0:32:25 - (Candice Hilton): Easy, easy to find us.
0:32:26 - (Colin Johnson): I love it. And now it's everybody's horizons because you're bringing in all kinds of people.
0:32:30 - (Candice Hilton): I know, it's wonderful.
0:32:32 - (Colin Johnson): What is something that you were like, I need to cover this and make sure we talk about it. And then we. We haven't yet anything. Because I know you talked about. A lot of people are asking because you have been on other podcasts about it and you're like, they asked me about the origin and why and how and. But we didn't get to talk about some stuff.
0:32:54 - (Candice Hilton): So I think we've covered. We got it all, I think so. I just really wanted people to know that we're here and we're here to help and homeschool questions if you need.
0:33:03 - (Colin Johnson): I think that's great because I think there are a lot of people probably who have a lot of questions about homeschooling and thoughts about it and how they explore it, maybe.
0:33:12 - (Candice Hilton): And yes.
0:33:13 - (Colin Johnson): And then if you're like, hey, I don't want to do it all the time, I can connect with Canvas and do it two days a week or. Two days a week.
0:33:20 - (Candice Hilton): Yeah. And that works great, too. And that way if parents are still working, if they work from home or even if they work part time out or if they have, you know, like.
0:33:27 - (Colin Johnson): Schedule Kind of thing. Yeah, yeah.
0:33:29 - (Candice Hilton): And like you were talking about that when the work is consolidated and parents at home can do it in a couple hours, we realize that too. So we do academics in the morning from 9 to 12, and then from 12 to 1, we do what we call social hours. They get a nice long extended lunch and then they can go play with blocks or play DOH or read a book. And then from one to three, we do only enrichments.
0:33:48 - (Colin Johnson): Okay.
0:33:49 - (Candice Hilton): So that's where we do the Spanish, the art I code. We do our monthly themes, like making lava lamps.
0:33:55 - (Colin Johnson): Gotcha.
0:33:55 - (Candice Hilton): We bring in science and social studies through those.
0:33:58 - (Colin Johnson): So, like physical activity, like we do recess, make them run a mile every day, limited push ups, 100 sit ups, that kind of stuff.
0:34:07 - (Candice Hilton): Nothing that strenuous. No, we do a lot of. We do a lot of recess. When the weather allows for it, we take a break in between. Obviously from 9 to 12, we're not just straight doing academics. We take a break and have a snack and go outside and play. And if the weather is conducive, we go outside and read the books that we're going to read. And so that way they get fresh air. And in the afternoons we have another break and we go outside and play again.
0:34:30 - (Colin Johnson): There you go.
0:34:31 - (Candice Hilton): So if the weather's not conducive, we do board games or goose and things like that inside. Yeah, yeah. So they do get physical activity, just not as PE we do go noodle a lot. So they get to dance on that. Ever seen a go Noodle?
0:34:48 - (Colin Johnson): No. What is that?
0:34:49 - (Candice Hilton): It's like a. They play music and they tell you what to do and then the kids repeat it. So it's a repeat after me kind of thing. Yeah. So they, they do run and play and jump and bounce around with those.
0:34:59 - (Colin Johnson): That's fun.
0:35:00 - (Candice Hilton): Yeah.
0:35:00 - (Colin Johnson): I think kids need to do that kind of stuff. And I think we need to step up physical exercise a little bit around just to get a habit built and start. Because I remember. Yeah. I mean, we. We did PE all the time when I was growing up, and then they kind of got rid of it. And you just kind of look around, they're like, yeah, I can tell you got rid of it. You know, I think it's. I think it would be good to instill those. Those values early.
0:35:25 - (Colin Johnson): So, last question. What gets you fired up, Candace? You're just like, let's go. I'm like, ready to take on the world doing this. Yeah.
0:35:36 - (Candice Hilton): I mean, truly.
0:35:37 - (Colin Johnson): You do light up when you talk about it.
0:35:39 - (Candice Hilton): I do. I was Telling you earlier, like, I've had podcasts and I've cried, and I get excited, and I just am so passionate about these kids. They deserve the world. Yeah. And if you let them just. Just listen to them and value them and just take into what they're telling you, it's amazing. And they truly have helped us build this, like, the enrichments we do and how we do the academics and how our schedule is set, and we. We've been able to adapt to them, and.
0:36:11 - (Candice Hilton): And they just flourish. And so. Yeah, that gets me fired up.
0:36:15 - (Colin Johnson): That's cool. That's cool. Well, I really enjoyed learning about this. You know, I had no idea there was a hybrid micro school out there. And so now I do. And now I know where to send people when they're moving here, because we have lots of people move here, and they're home. A lot of them are homeschooling. And so I'll connect them with you to be a resource and. Yeah. And then we've got a lot of homeschoolers here and Johnson City, and I think it's good.
0:36:39 - (Colin Johnson): Hopefully they're listening and they can connect with you as well.
0:36:41 - (Candice Hilton): Absolutely.
0:36:42 - (Colin Johnson): You guys can build that community. And, Yeah, I feel like there's going to be some really cool things happening as homeschooling grows and micro schools grow, and I think there's going to be a whole nother kind of educational movement there, which is kind of cool.
0:36:57 - (Candice Hilton): It is. It really is.
0:36:58 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah. I think it'll be really neat, and I love that a lot of times, the Lord's behind it, you know, and so I think it's really cool.
0:37:05 - (Candice Hilton): I'm 100% agree with that. Everything that we have done has been like, wow, Timon was right. Like, that prayer was answered. That. That happened when it was supposed to.
0:37:15 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah, well. And we chose to send one of our kids, the other one, he wanted to stay in public school, but to Providence and. Because we really valued that Christian Academy, you know, And I think our Christian learning and the classical style of learning and it was just great. But Cameron did fantastic, too, in public school. So it's just. I think every family's different. Every child's a little different. And so having lots of different options.
0:37:40 - (Candice Hilton): Agreed.
0:37:40 - (Colin Johnson): Is great.
0:37:41 - (Candice Hilton): Agreed.
0:37:42 - (Colin Johnson): That's what's great about America, right?
0:37:44 - (Candice Hilton): It is. It is. I have one that goes to my micro school. I have one that stayed at DB he's doing culinary there. He's doing great. And then I have another one that he's at dual enrollment with Northeast State, but he's also homeschooling. So, you know, he's doing great with Northeast State, but he wants to work and he's more hands on, and so sitting still was not a choice for him.
0:38:07 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah, I get it.
0:38:09 - (Candice Hilton): So, yes, it's very individualized.
0:38:11 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah, that's cool. Well, I'm excited to have you come back on the podcast here in a couple years.
0:38:16 - (Candice Hilton): Absolutely.
0:38:16 - (Colin Johnson): Tell us all about how it's grown, how you've got one in Johnson City, one in Jonesboro, one in Greenville, one in.
0:38:22 - (Candice Hilton): Yes, that'll be exciting.
0:38:23 - (Colin Johnson): Lots of, lots of Hilton horizons on the horizon. So I love that. Well, thanks for so much for coming on the podcast. It was a joy getting to know you. I'm hoping the listeners are enjoying it as well. Hopefully Jesse's listening. He's. He's enjoyed our conversation as well, and he's keeping his eyes on the road.
0:38:42 - (Candice Hilton): I hope that is what.
0:38:44 - (Colin Johnson): That's right all the way to Oak Ridge and back. And so, yeah, thanks for listening and thank you for being on the podcast and let me know if I can do anything to help. And if you're wanting to move here and meet Candace, we'd love to connect you and help you buy a great house and help you with homeschooling if that's what you're looking forward to. If you know anybody selling, let me know. And if you. We also do a lot of investment property, too, so you guys may want to think about that. And we help a lot of people build wealth that way.
0:39:10 - (Candice Hilton): Yeah.
0:39:10 - (Colin Johnson): So absolutely. Maybe you'll have to come teach at Hilton Academy and like, about real estate.
0:39:15 - (Candice Hilton): So we love that. We have all kinds of people come in. We've had people bring in their 3D printers to teach those.
0:39:21 - (Colin Johnson): That's cool.
0:39:21 - (Candice Hilton): Yeah. We have a guy that's coming in, he does automotive, and he's like, can I come in and show that? Absolutely. Bring it on. Let's go. And then we've had somebody that does Dremel tools and woodworking and they're like, sure, sure. We love it. Passion, skills, bring them. We. We enjoy that.
0:39:36 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah, Yeah, I love it. I love it. Well, I think it takes a village, right, kids? And so I think when you involve the village, it gets better.
0:39:43 - (Candice Hilton): That's why I always talk about our community. I'm like, I use that word entirely too much. But it is. That's what we're doing.
0:39:47 - (Colin Johnson): We're community.
0:39:49 - (Candice Hilton): That's right.
0:39:49 - (Colin Johnson): That's the way it's supposed to be. Well, thanks again.
0:39:51 - (Candice Hilton): Thank you so much.
0:39:52 - (Colin Johnson): Thank you all thank you.