First District Wide Hall of Fame

By Brooke Stevenson
brooke@seymourherald.com
    Sevier County Schools, in partnership of Sevier County Bank, will hold the first ever Educational Hall of Fame.
    The Hall of Fame will recognize outstanding teachers, administrators, school employees and school board members. The first Hall of Fame class will be inducted in April 2010 and nominations are currently being accepted.
    “We didn’t want this to just be a teacher hall of fame,” said Mary Summitt of Sevier County Bank. “We wanted it to be anything that had to do with education.”
    Honorees will be nominated by residents of Sevier County and the nomination form can be found on www.sevierbank.com and on the school district’s Web site at
Sevier.org.
    Forms can also be found at every school in Sevier County, at the District’s central office, the Sevier County Chamber of Commerce, all library branches and at all Sevier County Bank branches.
    “We are looking for someone who made a positive impact on the education or well being of a school aged child,” Summitt said. “We really want it to be anybody in education that has done something special for a child or really just made an impact.”
   Nominees can be individuals who are currently working in the district, who have retired from the district, or those who once worked for the district and have since passed away.
    Recipients of the award will be announced during a banquet in April, and each of their names will be displayed at the district’s central office and each winner will receive a type of trophy or plaque.
    “When we came up with this idea we went to the board of education and it was approved 100 percent by all the board members,” Summitt said.
   Summitt added that Director of Curriculum & Instruction for Sevier County Schools Debra Cline has been a key factor in moving the Hall of Fame process forward.
    Cline said it was important to include not only just teachers, but all staff in the school district, because they all work to make a positive impact on students’ lives.
    “In the educational community we all work together to provide instruction and support,” she said. “If you look at the school system, it takes many, many different people in all kinds of rolls in order for us to make a school day work.”
   She added that all employees, from bus drivers, to office staff, to cafeteria workers, to teachers and principals play an important part in students’ education.
    “We think it is a wonderful thing that we are going to be celebrating through the Hall of Fame,” Cline said, “the careers and activities of all the people that work together to make the school, the school day and the school system work productively for the benefit of children.
    “This is a great opportunity for people to celebrate the lives of people that have impacted them directly in education. All of us as adults have had experiences through the years and have been impacted by numerous people. Most people can name someone in their school experience that made a tremendous impact on their life.”
    Cline hopes that many people in the community will take advantage of the opportunity to nominate individuals for the first Hall of Fame.
   “I’m sure as the process goes on through the years that it will become an entrenched part of our culture to celebrate through the Hall of Fame,” she said.
   She expects a lot of interest in the nomination process and expects it to grow for years to come.
    “I am very appreciative of Sevier county bank for their partnership, in working to celebrate the lives of people in education,” Cline said. “I think that is very commendable and it shows the support in our business community for our school system.”
    For more information regarding the Sevier County Education Hall of Fame, contact Lynn Perella of Sevier County Bank at (865) 453-6101 or Cline at (865) 453-4671.