It's Election Time in Tennessee

PAULA DYER My name is Paula Dyer, and I am excited to announce that I am running for re-election to the Lewis County School Board of Education, District 8 seat, in the upcoming August election. Since I am officially beginning my campaign, it is extremely important to me to reach out to those who not only can vote in this district, but to everyone in the community, to know who I am and why I want to continue to represent the 8th district on the school board. I moved to Hohenwald over 40 years ago when I married Billy Dyer. We have three children, nine grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren. My community leadership and involvement positions include serving as president of the Retired Teachers of Lewis County, working in the concession stand at ballgames, and being an active member of the worship team at First Baptist Church. After teaching for 22 years in Lewis County, serving, in various capacities in the educational field, and serving on the board for the past four year, I know that I have a solid foundation on which to stand for the future of Lewis County Education. As a classroom teacher, I have seen the direct impact of policy decisions which have affected my colleagues, our students, and their families. I have always attempted to collaborate with other teachers, faculty, administration, support staff, and my community to support learning in Lewis County. I earned my Bachelor of Science degree from Martin Methodist College (now UT Southern) in Pulaski, TN in 1998, and I graduated with my Master of Science degree in 2005. My active endorsement areas include all subject areas for grades K-8 and as a reading specialist for grades PreK-12. I have served as a cooperating teacher for eight teacher candidates from MTSU, UT Southern, and the University of TN Martin. I have served on textbook selection committees for Math, ELA, Social Studies, and Science, as well as the academic data committee for School Improvement for Lewis County Middle School. Over the years I have been honored with several types of recognitions including VFW District Level Teacher of the Year, Lewis County Herald Teacher of the Week, Fox 17 Teacher of the Week, and LCMS Teacher of the Year. For the past two years, I have served with honor as vice-chairman of the school board. I assure you that I will continue to have the interests of all Lewis County students and teachers and staff as my priority. I will work hard, fairly, and honestly to the best of my ability to represent my community, my fellow teachers, support staff, administration, and the other board members if I am re-elected to this position. My decisions will always support effective teaching practices, our economy, and what is best for our students. While serving on the board, I have completed all required state training for school board members. I have researched and completed many training sessions on my own. I recently completed Reading 360 at the elementary and secondary levels to keep abreast of how students learn to read and how to help them become better readers. I also recently earned professional development points for completing "High-Quality Mathematics Instruction" through Vanderbilt University. I virtually attend the TN State Board of Education meetings to be aware of what is happening across the state. I sit in on webinars with TN School Board Association to learn of new laws and policies. This shows my determination and willingness to work hard and find out what is best for our schools. In December of 2023, I reached Level V Master Board Member status. I am the second board member in Lewis County to achieve this recognition. This was a combination of training/involvement points accumulated through TSBA and completing a portfolio to include accomplishments, reference letters, a self-evaluation, observing another board's meeting, providing evidence of my leadership role to build support for education at the state, local, and federal levels, and writing an essay for proposed improvements from four topics. Also in 2023, I was selected to the All-Tennessee School Board. Only seven board members from across Tennessee were chosen for this award. I am the first in Lewis County to receive this recognition. This year, I have been selected to serve as a panel judge to choose the recipients of the 2024 All-Tennessee School Board recognition. One issue that I advocated for while serving on the board was to make sure that all of our support staff received the same number of inclement weather days as everyone else in our system. They now also receive one sick day a month and two personal days a year, which is the same as our other employees. I also wanted any unused accumulated time to be used towards their retirement. This was accomplished by a majority vote from the board. I pushed for bus drivers to receive the opportunity to have access to the school insurance should they choose to do so. I voted in favor of absorbing the increase in insurance for our faculty and staff. We were also able to give a substantial percent raise, all while keeping the budget in the positive. I signed a resolution opposing the 3rd Grade Retention Law. I voted in favor of the buzz in system at each school and the ballistic film to be placed on the windows and doors for each school to make our buildings safer for our faculty, staff, and students. I advocated for us to establish a Student Advisory Council to the board this year. This council consists of high school students who attend board meetings and address the board on a variety of topics which affect them as students. Since this was new this year, I needed to write a policy and have it approved by TSBA and our board. The council has proven to be a tremendous asset to the board. I would like to thank you for the support I have received from you, the citizens across Lewis County. Thank you again for your vote and support so that I can help continue the magnificent work that is going on in our school system.