Earlier this week, Missy Crutchfield announced in a Facebook live video she is running for Hamilton County School Board District 4 in the March 5, 2024 Hamilton County Primary Election. Crutchfield’s campaign is focusing on safe school facilities, attracting and retaining teaching talent, offering students better access to public libraries, outdoor education, healthy school food options, and mental health resources, among other initiatives in the works.
Crutchfield remembers key educational partnerships she enjoyed working with the Chattanooga News Chronicle during her time serving as Administrator of the City of Chattanooga Department of Education, Arts & Culture (EAC), under Mayor Ron Littlefield.
“We had the opportunity to develop a student-led publication called ‘Chattanooga Teen Scene’ with the help of a student advisory board representing public and private high schools across Hamilton County,” she shares. “It made for some interesting and informative discussions of issues important to teens as well as showcasing their journalism, creative writing, art, and photography. It was very empowering for the students, and they often shared how much it meant for them to have a publication of their own as well as the opportunity to include their published work in their college resumes as they planned for their futures.”
A few years later another unique partnership with the Mary Walker Foundation and the Chattanooga News Chronicle brought together students from Howard School’s “Talented Tenth” leadership program with senior citizen residents at Mary Walker Towers for Black History Month event called “Celebrating Freedom” and a Literacy Month event called “Celebrating Literacy” with Publisher John Edward’s late father Rev. John Loyd Edwards, Jr. who marched with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. during the Civil Rights Movement and who founded the Mary Walker Foundation, working for literacy and honoring the legacy of the Chattanooga resident who learned to read at the age of 115 and who came to be known as the “Nation’s Oldest Student” after living through 26 presidents and two centuries. Adrian Edwards, the son of John and the grandson of the late Rev. Edwards, continues their legacy as director of the Mary Walker Foundation.
“It was an honor to work with John Edwards and his father Rev. Edwards both on these important literacy partnerships for students across Hamilton County,” Crutchfield shares. “We know that literacy is a key to student success here in Tennessee and Hamilton County, and we desperately need a renewed focus on helping students build literacy skills. We can do this by incorporating creative learning opportunities like we did with Chattanooga Teen Scene and the Celebrating Freedom and Celebrating Literacy events that encourage students to enjoy reading, writing, and learning more about their history while they prepare for their futures.”
Learn more at: www.electmissycrutchfield.com. (PAID by FRIENDS TO ELECT MISSY CRUTCHFIELD)