November 12, 2019
I would like to take a few moments to honor all those who have served in our Armed Forces as we recognize Veteran’s Day this week. It’s important we acknowledge the sacrifice our nation’s heroes made to keep this great country safe and free. Here at TSS, we are grateful for the service our veterans have given to this country and we pray you are reminded of that this week.
To that end, we’d like to use Veteran’s Day as an opportunity to honor an educator who has served in the military. Teachers make such a positive impact on young people’s lives and those who serve our country deserve to be recognized and celebrated. If you know a veteran who serves your community through education, nominate them today for a chance to receive a $50 gift card.
We’re excited to partner with you in this and look forward to celebrating our veterans with you. Click here to nominate an educator who is a veteran today.
-Adam Lister, President and CEO
Tennesseans for Student Success, together with Tristar Reads, announces the winners of their 2019 summer reading challenge. Awarding college scholarships, Tristar Reads encourages Tennessee’s students to be lifelong readers and learners.
“894 students logged over 500,000 minutes reading books this summer,” said Tennesseans for Student Success President and CEO Adam Lister. “When we launched this program, our goal was to keep Tennessee’s students reading and mitigate the summer slide. From our recent 2019 TNReady results, we know there is a continued need to emphasize literacy at every grade level and in every classroom – especially elementary and middle school students. Programs like Tristar Reads are one of the tools to incentivize reading throughout the year, and we are proud to have a hand in student growth.”
Tristar Reads is proud to award $1,000 college scholarships to the following outstanding Tennessee readers:
Elementary School Division – Tallen Haag, 3rd Grade, Robertson County, read 28,286 minutes
Middle School Division – Sarah Collier, 7th Grade, Cheatham County, read 22,955 minutes
High School Division – Lauren Linden, 12th Grade, Hancock County, read 10,012 minutes
Recently, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) released the results of our nation’s 2019 Report Card, which showed Tennessee holding steady while the majority of the country declined. Notably, serious gains were made in fourth-grade math as a result of a commitment to implement student-focused policies.
Read more about what our Nation’s Report Card is and what it means for Tennessee’s students here.
Check out what our President and CEO Adam Lister had to say about these results:
“… there is still much work to be done to ensure all students are receiving the best possible public education. This data reinforces our belief that policy makers must commit to an aggressive and bold agenda, which dramatically and more quickly improves student outcomes for all Tennessee kids. It’s important that we commend the progress Tennessee has made, thank our teachers for their hard work, and commit to the strategies that will dramatically drive student achievement forward.”
Read our full statement here.
Last week, Governor Bill Lee announced the distribution of $25 million of grants through the Governor’s Investment in Vocational Education (GIVE) program. These funds will help expand opportunities in career and technical education and in rural counties across the state. Through collaborating with local stakeholders, economic development partners, and higher education organizations, all 28 economically distressed counties and 18 of the 24 at-risk counties were impacted and received funding.
To read more about the GIVE grant projects and recipients, click here.