Amie and Nick Dodson have been involved with YOKE in different capacities for many years. Nick was one of the original YOKE Folk at Norris Middle, YOKE’s first club in Anderson County, where he met Amie. Amie had joined the team after hearing about YOKE’s mission in local schools on the radio. They served together at Norris, later married, and went on to serve again Team Leaders at Karns.
“YOKE was the first place we served together and set the stage for future ministry,” said Amie. “YOKE taught us how to work, serve middle schoolers, and do life together.” Amie’s favorite YOKE memories are spending time with kids, including taking a few girls for makeovers at the mall. Both Nick and Amie enjoyed going to the Enger’s home to hang out and eat, spending time together as a team.
They are still friends with many of their former teammates, several of whom they see often. They keep up with their former YOKE kids on social media. Amie is real estate broker, while Nick is a seminary professor and works for Anderson County Schools. He’s a great recruiter for YOKE, hosting banquet tables each year and promoting YOKE within the public schools. They attend Faith Promise Church, where they serve as small group coaches.
“Middle school kids just want to be acknowledged and loved,” said Amie. “Those kids want to be around real adults who follow through with commitments. Those seem like such simple things, but they are big gestures when kids have bad home lives, poor peer influence, and often suffer from anxiety and depression. Middle schoolers are much more likely to listen and come to you for help when you give them what they desperately need.”
Next year, as their daughter Katie Ann enters middle school, Nick and Amie look forward to her being involved in YOKE as well.