Screen Shot 2014-01-16 at 10.57.04 AMThe Woodrow Wilson High School Community Foundation is honoring the service and accomplishments of two Lakewood neighbors. Jody Hodges has been dubbed “Board Member of the Year” and Kyle Rains as “Volunteer of the Year” for 2013.

For those who don’t know Jody Hodges, he’s the senior vice president with Bank of America and has worked in the Greater Texas Commercial Banking group since 2004. Hodges serves as a senior client manager in Dallas. Mr. Hodges earned his M.B.A with distinction from Texas Christian University in Fort Worth.  He received a Bachelor of Science degree from West Texas A&M University.

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Hodges also has slew of impressive contributions to the community. He serves as a board member of the Greater Coppell YMCA, The Greatest Thing Foundation, and Zoomago, Inc.  He has served on the Fort Worth Leadership Council and as past Chairman of the American Heart Walk and March of Dimes, March for Babies campaigns. Plus, Hodges and his wife, Nikki, and their two young children live in Lakewood.

Foundation president Richard H. Vitale says Hodges was one of the first members of the Foundation’s Board of Directors, and he “has been a critical part of our leadership team.”

“Jody has devoted countless hours and days to the essential work of tracking and managing our financial information,” Vitale says.

Screen Shot 2014-01-16 at 10.57.32 AMKyle Rains, a lifelong resident of Lakewood and a frequent contributor to Advocate, attended Lakewood Elementary and Woodrow Wilson High School, where he graduated in 1976. One of the highlights of his high school years was performing as the Artful Dodger in Woodrow’s production of “Oliver!” in 1976.

Rains earned two bachelor degrees from SMU, one in Real Estate and the other in Journalism. He then worked with Mobil in Houston and managed Merrill Lynch Lakewood. Rains has worked for DeGolyer and MacNaughton for more than two decades, where he currently works in the Europe-Africa division. He has maintained his real estate broker’s license, and he manages several properties in East Dallas and Lakewood.

Rains was awarded PTA Honorary Life Membership for school volunteer work and was inducted into Woodrow Wilson High School Hall of Fame. He is the co-founder of the Woodrow Wilson High Alumni Association and currently serves as vice president. In addition, he has served in leadership with the Lakewood Country Club Estates Conservation District, the Junius Heights Historic District, the Cochran Heights Neighborhood Stabilization Ordinance, and the Historic Lakewood Foundation. He also is an active volunteer for Habitat for Humanity and D.O.T., which provides service to the terminally ill.

Vitale insists there is “no person in Woodrow Nation who has been more dedicated or active in nurturing the school and in promoting all its programs” than Rains.

“He is endlessly enthusiastic, upbeat and generous, and Kyle is the most loyal Wildcat I have ever known,” Vitale says.