Jewel Allan Brock retired twice from Knox County Schools – first, in 2009, as principal of Carter Middle School in East Knox County; and again, in 2023, as part-time athletics director at Carter High School.
“Forty-seven years was long enough,” he says.
Brock is a Halls guy who has influenced generations of Knox County kids. And now he’s cheerleading for his grandkids in Sevier County, where his son, Jeremy, is on the staff of Sevier County High School. Jeremy and Amy Seivers Brock’s son is a freshman on the SCHS football team and a younger sibling attends New Center Elementary School in Sevierville.
Brock’s daughter, Emily Lanius, a longtime guidance counselor and cheer coach at Powell High School, was named as assistant administrator at PHS this year. Her son, Caleb, was valedictorian of PHS in 2026 and now is an honors engineering enrollee at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
“I have trouble even spelling ‘valedictorian,’” Brock jokes. “By the way, he also got the Vicki Dunaway award,” says the proud grandpa.
Now 72, Brock started work at Halls High School in 1976 – a watershed year for Knox County Schools as longtime Superintendent Mildred E. Doyle had given way to Superintendent Earl Hoffmeister.
Brock had played baseball for coach Jerry Sharp at Halls and then earned a degree in health and physical education from Tusculum. Certified to teach, he discovered no openings in his field in Knox County Schools. He dropped in at Halls High where Roy Mullins was principal and Jerry Sharp his assistant.
“Mr. Mullins said he had one opening, but I’d have to get certified in math and agree to coach baseball and be assistant coach for girls basketball.” Brock taught math at Halls for 17 years.
And he coached baseball until handing the reins to Doug Polston in 1988. “We had some good years,” he recalls, noting 1981-82 when “Farragut, Karns and Halls were the best teams in the state.”
It was during this time that Halls High baseball built a fieldhouse on Andersonville Pike, named in memory of Josh Ellis. Previously the team had no place to change clothes. “With volunteer labor and some strong discounts on lumber from Carl Tindell, we built it for about $30,000.” Word spread downtown and then-Superintendent Allen Morgan called Brock for a look. Another school was proposing a fieldhouse for $100,000, and Morgan wanted to compare what Halls had done.
“He looked around, nodded a few times and then asked, ‘Does that batting cage work?’” Brock said yes, and Morgan, a former baseball coach at Karns High School, asked if Brock would pitch him a few balls.
“He hit some and missed a few and we went at it for a while,” Brock recalls with a chuckle.
At the 2026 Powell High awards event are (from left): Brian Lanius, Jewel Brock, Jerri Brock, valedictorian Caleb Lanius, Emily Lanius, Diane Mitchell, Karen Speegle, Robby Speegle and Jan Lanius.
Next came a stint in administration. When Dinzle “Dink” Adams became principal at Halls High, he was joined by assistants Jewel Brock and Rusha Sams. It was a solid team, and Brock took seriously his responsibilities as athletics director.
One Sunday afternoon, Jewel decided to change the light bulbs in the HHS gym in preparation for a basketball tournament scheduled to start the next day. He went to the school alone and locked the exterior doors. This might have predated mobile phones.
“I had watched the guys from [central office] maintenance on those hydraulic lifts,” he recalls, “and knew I could do it.” But from equipment or operator malfunction, the lift fell straight down from the top of the gym with Jewel Brock on it. He was injured, but managed to call his dad, Weldon Brock, who somehow accessed the gym and took Jewel to the ER. He was scanned and tested for internal injuries and sent home. He was probably at the next day’s tournament.
Brock was shocked when contacted by interim Superintendent Roy Mullins in 2003. “Danny Trent had been the principal at Carter Middle School and he was being moved to Karns Middle. When I got to the office, Roy and Bobby Gratz were there. “I’m sending you to Carter,” said Mullins.
“When?” asked Brock. “Today,” said Mullins.
And that’s how Jewel Brock became head principal at Carter Middle School. “Bobby took Danny over to Karns to introduce him and Roy took me to Carter. It was the day before school started and I knew one teacher.” Brock worked there until he retired in 2009.
Soon after, he was contacted by Carter High School to work part-time as athletics director. He was working with youngsters he had known in middle school. What a way to go out.
“I’ve worked with a lot of good people over the years,” he says. “Enjoyed every job I had.”
TOA adds three physicians in East TN
Tennessee Orthopaedic Alliance (TOA), has added three physicians in East Tennessee: Drs. Michael Craig, Dale Sharpe and Christopher Melton.
Michael Craig MD
Dr. Michael Craig: A Knoxville native, Dr. Craig is a physiatrist and spinal cord injury specialist with nearly 30 years of experience. His practice focuses on minimally invasive, non-surgical treatment of musculoskeletal and neurologic conditions affecting the spine, neck and pelvis, with a special interest in fluoroscopically guided spine injections, radiofrequency neurotomy and thermal nerve ablation for chronic spinal pain.
He began seeing patients in Lenior City at 576 Fort Loudoun Medical Center Drive in August.
Dr. Craig completed his residency at Ohio State University and his fellowship at the University of Alabama School of Medicine. He has co-authored peer-reviewed research and consumer publications, delivered invited lectures regionally and internationally, and has been named a Cityview “Top Doc” by his physician peers more than 20 times since 2002.
Dale Sharpe MD
Dr. Dale Sharpe, a foot and ankle surgeon with deep roots in East Tennessee, joins TOA from First State Orthopaedics and OrthoDelaware in Newark and Wilmington, Delaware. He is board-certified and specializes in the treatment of foot and ankle conditions, including arthritis, sports injuries, fractures, deformities and other lower extremity disorders, with expertise in ankle replacement, arthroscopy and minimally invasive surgical techniques.
He began seeing patients at the Tower at Parkwest and Bearden Hill locations at 9430 Park West Blvd Suite 130 and 6484 Kingston Pike in August.
Dr. Sharpe completed his residency at OhioHealth, Nationwide Children’s Hospital and Ohio State University Medical Center in Columbus and his fellowship at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. He is part of the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society, Amercian Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, American Osteopathic Academy of Orthopedics and the Orthopaedic Trauma Association.
Christopher Melton MD
Dr. Christopher Melton is an orthopedic surgeon specializing in hip and knee replacement. He completed his orthopedic surgery residency at the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta and a highly competitive Adult Reconstruction Fellowship at Emory University, where he received advanced training in primary and complex revision hip and knee replacement, robotic-assisted joint replacement and the treatment of complex joint disorders.
He began seeing patients in August at the Sevierville and Fort Sanders Regional locations at 1679 Veterans Blvd. and 1819 Clinch Avenue, Suite 100.
Dr. Melton specializes in helping patients regain mobility and improve quality of life through the latest advancements in joint replacement surgery, emphasizing compassionate care, patient education, shared decision-making and evidence-based treatment tailored to each individual’s goals.
Notes & quotes
Jay Leno will be at the Tennessee Theatre on Thursday, November 19, 2026, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets here.
Outdoor Knoxville lists hundreds of activities, many free, all outdoors.
Quote: Ronald Reagan would have a hard time getting elected as a Republican today. — Lindsey Graham on “Meet the Press” with David Gregory, September 5, 2010.
***
Sandra Clark compiles obituary links and writes the Let’s Talk series for KnoxTNToday – Let’s Talk – Leaders archive. Follow KnoxTNToday on Facebook, Instagram, X and LinkedIn. Get daily articles in one place with our free newsletter. Send comments to news@knoxtntoday.com/.
