The SCORE Prize Summit

Bill Brittain has served Hamblen County citizens in county government for 20 years. He served as County Trustee for 16 years before being elected County Mayor in 2010. He has focused his efforts on providing quality services at a good value for taxpayers.

As County Mayor, he helped start the TN Achieves program for seniors at Morristown East and West High Schools; the program provides mentors/scholarships to help seniors navigate the college application process. Many of the TN Achieves participants are the first generation in their family to attend college.

As County Trustee, Mr. Brittain’s work experience as an investment broker enabled him to develop an investment plan that generated millions of dollars in interest income to help keep taxes low and to pay on the County’s debt. Additionally, he has served as president of the East Tennessee Trustees Association and the statewide Tennessee County Trustees Association. He was named Outstanding Trustee of the Year in 2006, and elected president of the County Officials Association of Tennessee (COAT) the following year.

Mayor Brittain spent his childhood in Morristown and has raised his family there. He graduated with honors from Morristown East High School, and attended Walters State Community College before transferring to UT-Knoxville where he earned an undergraduate degree in communications with honors.

Senator Frist founded SCORE in 2009 and serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors. He is a nationally-acclaimed heart and lung transplant surgeon, former U.S. Senate Majority Leader, and chairman of the Executive Board of the health service private equity firm Cressey & Company. He is actively engaged in the business as well as the medical, humanitarian, and philanthropic communities. He is chairman of both Hope Through Healing Hands, which focuses on maternal and child health and global poverty.

As a U.S. Senator representing Tennessee from 1995-2007 (the first practicing physician elected to the Senate since 1928), Senator Frist served on both the Health, Education, and Labor, and Pensions Committee and the Finance Committees. He was elected Majority Leader of the Senate, having served fewer total years in Congress than any person chosen to lead that body in history. His leadership was instrumental in the passage of the 2003 Medicare Modernization Act and the historic PEPFAR legislation that provided life-saving treatment globally to over 12 million people and reversed the spread of HIV/AIDS worldwide. He also held seats on the Foreign Relations Committee where he chaired the Subcommittee on Africa, the Commerce Committee, and the Banking Committee.

Currently Dr. Frist serves as an adjunct professor of Cardiac Surgery at Vanderbilt University and clinical professor of Surgery at Meharry Medical College. As a leading authority on healthcare, Senator Frist speaks nationally on health reform, government policy, global health, education reform, and volunteerism. His current board service includes the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, The Nature Conservancy, Kaiser Family Foundation, Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian, Bipartisan Policy Center, and Nashville Health Care Council. In the private sector, he serves on the boards of Select Medical, Teladoc, AECOM, and others.

David A. Golden is Senior Vice President, Chief Legal and Sustainability Officer, and Corporate Secretary for Eastman Chemical Company. Mr. Golden has responsibility for Eastman’s Legal, Corporate HSES, and Global Public Affairs and Policy Departments, which has personnel in the United States, Europe, and Asia. He also has overall responsibility for Eastman’s Ethics and Corporate Compliance program. Immediately prior to this position, he was Vice President, Associate General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary with overall responsibility for Eastman’s Legal Department.
The son of an educator and a frequent speaker, Mr. Golden currently serves on the Board of Directors for SCORE and the Niswonger Foundation.  He also is a member of the Governor’s Council for Judicial Appointments, the Tennessee Trial Vacancy Commission, the Tennessee Business Court Advisory Commission and the Western Governor’s University Tennessee Advisory Council.  He is a member of Leadership Tennessee Class III.  He and his wife Jennifer have six children and live in Kingsport.

Mr. Golden holds a B.S. degree in accounting from Brigham Young University and a J.D. degree, also from Brigham Young University, graduating Magna Cum Laude and Order of the Coif and served on the management committee of the BYU Law Review. He completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School in 2012.

On November 4, 2014, Bill Haslam secured the largest re-election victory in modern Tennessee history. Under Governor Haslam’s leadership, Tennessee is recognized as a national leader in education, job creation and fiscal responsibility.

His commitment to education is making a difference with Tennessee becoming the fastest improving state in the country in academic achievement during his governorship. He has launched the “Tennessee Promise” – the only program in the country to give every graduating high school senior a chance to earn a certificate or degree beyond high school free of charge and with a personal mentor.

Governor Haslam has focused on making Tennessee the No. 1 location in the Southeast for high quality jobs, and Tennessee currently holds the title of “State of the Year” for economic development. Working with the General Assembly, he has balanced the budget every year, kept taxes low, ensured Tennessee has the lowest debt in the country, and nearly doubled the state’s savings account.

Born and raised in Knoxville by parents who instilled their strong faith and work ethic in their children, he excelled in academics and sports and was a leader in student government. When he was 16 years old, the sudden, unexpected death of his mother marked a turning point in his young life. His family leaned on each other and on their faith to get through the tough days.

Governor Haslam entered Emory University in 1976, and on the first day of class, met Crissy, a young woman from Memphis who would later become his wife. During college, Bill was a volunteer leader for Young Life, a Christian ministry that reaches out to adolescents, and today he serves on the Young Life Board of Trustees.

After graduating from Emory with a degree in History, Bill and Crissy married and moved to Knoxville, where Bill managed his family’s chain of gas stations. In 2003, he ran successfully for mayor of Knoxville and was re-elected in 2007 with 87 percent of the vote. As mayor, he balanced eight consecutive city budgets, tripled the Rainy Day Fund, insisted that city government focus on providing services in an efficient manner, helped found key education initiatives, and recruited and retained thousands of jobs to Knoxville.

Bill and Crissy have been married for 35 years and have three children and six grandchildren.

Marcus Shawn Heaston is the current High Schools Director for Clarksville-Montgomery School System. Mr. Heaston was previously the principal at Tipton County’s Covington High School, which was recognized as one of the nation’s top schools by Newsweek and U.S. News and World Report. In addition to his experience as principal, Mr. Heaston has served as an administrator at an elementary school, and as court and community liaison for Tipton County Schools’ Pupil Services. He also has served as a board member for the Regional Economic Development Initiative for West Tennessee. He earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Tennessee at Martin, his master’s degree in educational leadership and administration from Trevecca Nazarene University and was certified by the National Institute for School Leadership at the University of Memphis – Lambuth.

Aleyna Loughran-Pierce is an eighth-grade student currently attending West End Middle Prep in Nashville, Tennessee.  She’s enrolled in extracurricular STEM activities as well as participating in orchestra, drama, soccer and choral ensembles.  A daughter of a retired Army LTC father and voice instructor mother, Aleyna has learned to value service and community building.  She has also learned the value of a teacher who believes in you and pushes you to believe in yourself. She plans to attend Stanford University and become an author and illustrator.

Dr. Dale Lynch has been Director of Schools in Hamblen County since 2001. He served as the President of the Tennessee Organization of School Superintendents from 2012 to 2013. Prior to his appointment in Hamblen County, Dr. Lynch was the Director of Schools in the Elizabethton City School System. He began his employment in Elizabethton as the Assistant Director of Schools for Curriculum and Instruction. Dr. Lynch began his career in education as a teacher in Washington County. He earned a Bachelor’s Degree at Milligan College, followed by a Master’s Degree and a Doctorate of Education at East Tennessee State University.

David leads the day-to-day implementation of SCORE’s strategic plan, directing all programs and initiatives, as well as overseeing the organization’s financial and operational efforts. In his previous role as SCORE Executive Vice President, David led SCORE’s advocacy, communications, outreach, policy, and research work. Prior to joining SCORE in 2010, Mansouri worked in public relations and political consulting for the late U.S. Senator Fred Thompson and at the Tennessee Republican Party.

Besides his work at SCORE, David serves as the Chair of the Board of Directors of Nashville Classical Charter School, a public elementary school in East Nashville whose mission is to prepare every child — no matter his or her starting point — for college. A Tennessee native, David is a graduate of Rice University and received an MBA with honors from Vanderbilt University’s Owen Graduate School of Management.

Peggy Barber Murdock currently serves as an Instructional Supervisor with Tipton County Schools. Her educational career began in elementary education before serving as assistant principal at Munford High School, and principal of Covington High School. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Education from Mississippi University for Women and Masters of Education in Curriculum and Instruction as well as an Education Specialist degree from the University of Memphis.

Sharon Roberts leads SCORE’s work to cultivate and support leaders across the state who are at the forefront of implementing student-centered work in their schools and districts. Prior to joining SCORE, Dr. Roberts served as Director of the Lebanon Special School District. She began her career in education as a special education teacher in the Grainger County School System. She worked for more than 21 years in the Knox County School System, where she served as a special education teacher, middle school science and reading teacher, instructional coach, principal, Assistant Superintendent for Supplementary Student Services, and Assistant Superintendent for Administrative Services. She currently serves on several boards that further the cause of professional learning and advocacy for children, including the Learning Forward Foundation, Learning Forward Tennessee, and the 15th Judicial District Child Advocacy Center. Dr. Roberts is a native of Knoxville and received her bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville.

Julio Salazar, a summer 2016 intern at SCORE, is a rising junior at the University of Notre Dame, where he is studying Political Science and Education, Schooling, and Society and is a Hesburgh Yusko Scholar. Julio is a 2014 graduate of Morristown West High School. Salazar aspires to teach in both Catholic and Tennessee public schools. He also hopes to lobby for education policy in Washington, DC, to be Commissioner of Education, and run for public office. In his personal time, Julio enjoys comic books, Star Wars, sports (Go IRISH!), and collecting Pop! Vinyl figures.

Clint Satterfield has served as Trousdale County Director of Schools since 2008. During his tenure, the school district has moved from the NCLB Needs Improvement list to the Exemplary School District list in 2012, and has been named a National Blue Ribbon School. Additionally, the district’s only elementary and high schools have both achieved Reward School status. He is also a member of the organization of Tennessee superintendents entitled “Leading Innovation for Tennessee Education” (LIFT Education). He has a Master’s and Educational Specialist degree from Tennessee Technological University and is completing a Doctorate in Educational Leadership at Union University.

Cathy Whitehead is a third grade teacher at West Chester Elementary School in Henderson, Tennessee. She is the recipient of several awards and grants, and she is currently serving our state as the 2016 Tennessee Teacher of the Year. Cathy is especially passionate about the importance of early literacy in addressing inequity and effective teacher leadership, and she shares her voice as a member of Governor Haslam’s inaugural Teacher Cabinet and Commissioner McQueen’s Teacher Advisory Council. She has been a TNCore Coach, serves on an ESSA transition plan work group for the Department of Education, and is an Education.com Teacher Fellow. She also regularly blogs about best classroom practices, and her work has been featured in Classroom Chronicles, Literacy & NCTE, and Edu@Scholastic, as well as her own professional blog. Cathy earned her undergraduate degree at the University of Mississippi and holds a master’s degree and reading specialist endorsement from the University of Tennessee at Martin.

After earning a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mathematics from the University of Memphis and a Master of Education Degree from Vanderbilt University, Cicely Woodard started teaching seventh- and eighth-graders in Nashville in 2003. Since then she has been a leader in the field facilitating workshops on best practices in teaching mathematics, representing teachers by speaking on various education topics at the local, state, and national level, and serving as an adjunct instructor in the Department of Teaching and Learning at Vanderbilt University. In 2014 Cicely earned the distinction of Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools Blue Ribbon Teacher and she was chosen as a Piedmont Gas STEM Superstar. Cicely currently teaches eighth grade mathematics and integrated math I at West End Middle School in Nashville.

Jamie Woodson has been at the forefront of Tennessee’s work to raise student achievement first in the Tennessee General Assembly and now as executive chairman and CEO of the State Collaborative on Reforming Education (SCORE). Ms. Woodson sets the SCORE strategic vision, leads its executive team, and builds and strengthens education partnerships in Tennessee and across the nation. During her legislative career, she chaired the Senate Education Committee, served as Senate speaker pro tempore, and spearheaded efforts to identify and support effective teaching, raise academic expectations for Tennessee students, turn around low-performing schools, and support student-focused innovation. She serves on the boards of the PIE (Policy Innovators in Education) Network, Tennessee Independent Colleges and University Association, Tennessee Wildlife Commission, and the Governor’s Foundation for Health and Wellness. Ms. Woodson is an alumna of the Pahara-Aspen Institute Fellowship in Entrepreneurial Leadership in Education, the Hunt-Kean Leadership Fellows, and Leadership Tennessee.