Local boards of education heard updates on education reform in Tennessee, earned honors for their professional development activities, recognized a member of the media and honored an outstanding student at the Tennessee School Boards Association's (TSBA) 2009 East Fall District Meeting, Sept. 22, at Grainger High School. The meeting was one of nine similar sessions held annually in each of TSBA's development districts.

The evening's program included an update of this year's session of the Tennessee General Assembly, a program on effective boardmanship through planning, policy and promotion, a session outlining education reform efforts in Tennessee and a report on the work being done by the State Collaborative on Reforming Education (S.C.O.R.E.).

In 2009, 10 TSBA members were honored with the National School Boards Association (NSBA) Distinguished Service Award, which recognizes individual participation in NSBA programs as well as local education advocacy. Those individuals honored at the East District Meeting were Sam Anderson of Knox County and Richard Rowe of Sweetwater.

Several school board members received TSBA Boardsmanship Awards. The program is designed to recognize school board members for participation in board activities beyond the local level through a commitment to training, willingness to participate in workshops and a volunteer spirit.

The Boardsmanship Award honor not only the quantity, but also the quality of participation. Levels I-IV are given at Fall District Meetings, while Level V Boardsmanship is awarded at the associate's annual convention in November. East District board members who were honored for their achievements this year included: Larry Stein, Monroe County, Level I; and Sonya Lynn, Monroe County, Level III.

TSBA has sponsored an Award for Excellence in Education Reporting for more than 20 years. We feel those newspapers and television stations who are doing a great job of working with boards of education and promoting public education should be recognized for their efforts.
Awards are given in daily newspaper, non-daily newspaper and broadcast journalism categories. At this year's meeting, Tommy Millsaps, staff writer for the Monroe County Advocate & Democrat, was recognized for winning the Non-Daily Feature Story Category of this year's Excellence in Education Reporting Contest.