AREA SCHOOL LEADERS ADVANCE IN
AASB’S SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER ACADEMY
MONTGOMERY, AL – (November 2014) – When the Alabama Association of School Boards hosts its annual Academy Awards Luncheon from noon to 1:45 p.m. Dec. 5, local school board members will be among the honorees.
Fifty-two central Alabama school board members are among the 397 school board members statewide who advanced in the AASB School Board Member Academy, a school for school board members. They’ll be celebrated in the grand ballroom of the Hyatt Regency Birmingham-The Wynfrey Hotel in Birmingham.
The education leaders were recognized for their efforts to improve their boardmanship skills, increase their understanding of education issues and heighten their leadership skills by participating in the academy.
“It is such a pleasure to see our members invest in their development as school board leaders,” said AASB President Katy Campbell of the Macon County school board. “These school board members know the importance of growing and learning to improve their leadership skills. They know students perform better when their school systems are led by highly effective school boards.”
AASB has nine geographic districts. District 5 includes the Jefferson and Shelby county school boards, and the Alabaster, Bessemer, Birmingham, Gardendale, Fairfield, Homewood, Hoover, Leeds, Midfield, Mountain Brook, Tarrant, Trussville and Vestavia Hills city school boards as well as the Alabama School of Fine Arts Board of Trustees.
Friday’s awards program will feature Notasulga High School’s World Music Drumming Ensemble, which will entertain more than 500 education leaders from across the state. The awards program is a highlight of the Dec. 3-6 AASB Annual Convention and Orientation. Orientation courses will be taught Dec. 3 and 4 for new school board members and members interested in a refresher. Convention opens on Dec. 4, which is also when the association has its annual business meeting, the Delegate Assembly. The 2014 theme, Liberating Genius, is also the title of education technology expert Angela Maiers’ Dec. 6 general session address. Keynote speeches will be delivered Dec. 5 by character development expert Bill Ballenger on Break the Grey and 2013-14 Florida Superintendent of the Year Alberto Carvalho on the Miami Miracle.
Below are the local board members and the levels they achieved (*denotes former school board member and ***denotes first-time Masters Honor Roll):
Level I (Requires 25 training hours)
- Linda Church, Alabaster
- Sherman Collins, Birmingham
- Nancy Ferren, Homewood
- Cheri Gardner, Birmingham
- Danny Garrett, Trussville
- Christopher Hawkins, Homewood
- Daagye Hendricks, Birmingham
- Mark Hogewood, Vestavia Hills
- Michael Hogue, Gardendale
- Paul Howell, Pelham
- Phillip Hyche, Leeds
- Claire Mitchell, Bessemer
- Kym Prewitt, Vestavia Hills
- Dr. Barbara Regan, Pelham
- Chris Segroves, Gardendale
- Lyord Watson, Birmingham
- Randall Woodfin, Birmingham
- Karen White, Gardendale
Level II (Requires 50 training hours)
- Wardine Alexander, Birmingham
- Chad Anderson, Leeds
- Jimmy Bice, Shelby County
- Tamara Graham , Leeds
- Oscar Mann, Jefferson County
- Dr. John Myrick, Alabaster
- Bill Roberts, Trussville
- Scott Sisk, Leeds
Levels I & II
- Sandra Brown, Birmingham
- Derek Henderson, Alabaster
- Adam Moseley, Alabaster
- Janice Stallworth, Fairfield
- Nathan Williams, Midfield
Level III (Requires 75 training hours)
- Allen Bailey, Tarrant
- Stan Garrett, Trussville
- Gayle Glenn, Trussville
- Eddie Penny, Fairfield
- Randal Smith, Fairfield
- John Ware, Midfield
Level IV (Requires 100 training hours, including all eight core curriculum courses)
· Earlean Cochran, Bessemer*
Master (Requires Level 4 plus 15 hours, including one additional core course)
- Donna Frazier, Hoover, first year
- Brian Giattina, Birmingham, first year
- Seth Goldman, Fairfield, first year
- Hattie Aikerson, Bessemer, second year
- Peg Hill, Shelby County, third year
- Verranzno Davis, Midfield, fourth year
- Bruce Grant, Tarrant, fourth year
- Jacqueline Smith, Jefferson County, fifth year
Masters Honor Roll (Requires completion of all four levels plus five consecutive years of earning Master recognition at any point during the members’ tenure on the board)
· Vera Eades, Bessemer
· Marion Easley, Fairfield
· Gene Horton, Tarrant
· Darlene Perkins, Bessemer
· Renna Scott, Bessemer***
· April Williams, Birmingham
The academy, founded in 1986, has four achievement levels based on the number of credit hours board members earn as they learn at academy conferences, workshops and other training events. There are eight core courses: roles and responsibilities, policy and planning, financial accountability, the optimal learning environment, academic achievement, staff development, effective boards and relationships and community engagement. Board members who complete the core courses and the academy’s four levels can continue their training to earn the Master School Board Member distinction and ultimately attain Masters Honor Roll recognition.
AASB’s academy year runs from July 1 to June 30. The academy helps board members comply with the School Board Governance Improvement Act of 2012, which requires orientation of new board members and at least 6 hours of annual training. Two of those 6 hours must be from training done as a whole school board (with at least the majority of the school board in attendance). In the 2014 training year, Alabama’s individual school board members earned just shy of 15,382 combined training hours and school boards earned more than 354 whole board training hours. Training hours must be earned annually and do not carry over from year to year.
