Parker, board members attend

Over 750 school board members and education leaders from across the state gathered in Nashville Nov. 3-6 for the Tennessee School Boards Association’s (TSBA) 75th Leadership Conference and Annual Convention.

Attending from Cannon County were board members Nathan Sanders and Bruce Daniel and Director of Schools Barbara Parker.

 The purpose of the convention was to share best practices, discuss changes in public education, and explore ways to improve Tennessee public schools. This year’s theme was “Everyone In For Education” and each of the three general sessions featured not only outstanding speakers, but students from around the state. There was a Legal Workshop, Power Through Policy Workshop, an Exhibit Hall and 30 clinics designed to provide the latest data and information to those who oversee Tennessee’s public education system.

Included in an impressive line-up of speakers was National School Boards Association (NSBA) President, Ed Massey and Executive Director, Tom Gentzel who along with Miss Tennessee, Chandler Lawson, and Michael Thurmond, a distinguished attorney, author and lecturer helped kick-off the Opening General Session on November 4.

TSBA has partnered with SCORE (State Collaborative on Reforming Education) to build nationwide, statewide and local awareness of Tennessee’s ongoing effort to raise expectations in the classroom through the Expect More, Achieve More coalition. To help accomplish this goal, TSBA provided each school board member and superintendent with an Expect More, Achieve More toolkit, which gave them additional resources to promote public education in their communities.

On November 5, TSBA hosted an Awards Luncheon to honor numerous board members and school boards for their achievements over the past year. TSBA partnered with the State Department of Education’s Office of Coordinated School Health to offer a Tennessee’s Healthier Schools Challenge award program. United Healthcare graciously agreed to be our corporate underwriter by providing funding to the Coordinated School Health programs across the state. Scott Bowers, CEO for United Healthcare and Rebecca Johns-Wommack, Executive Director of the Tennessee Coordinated School Health Department helped present awards to the 57 systems that successfully completed this challenge.

During the Second General Session, convention attendees had the chance to gain inspiration from motivational speaker, Reggie Dabbs. Throughout the afternoon board members exchanged ideas and learned the latest educational trends through 30 clinic sessions. These informational clinics were hosted by an array of educational experts.

Convention attendees also had an opportunity to visit over 65 exhibit booths and keep up with convention activities through the TSBA Mobile application for iPhone and Android devices.

Dr. Sandra Alberti spoke during the closing general session on Tuesday morning. Dr. Alberti is the Director of Partnership Initiatives and Professional Development for Student Achievement Partners, an organization that was instrumental in the development of the Common Core State Standards.