Janie Slaton Announces Candidacy for Jefferson County School Board

Janie Slaton, Candidate for School Commissioner

To the Voters Living in the 1st, 2nd, and 8th Districts:
I am pleased to announce that I am running for school commissioner. I feel certified and qualified to serve.

Degrees and Schools:
B.S. University of Tennessee with teaching certification in History and English
M.S. and Ed.S. Lincoln Memorial University in Administration and Supervision
Career Level III teacher since 1985

Teaching experience: 31 years
Piedmont Elementary 3 years
Maury Middle 11 years
Jefferson County High School 17 years
Walters State Community College adjunct faculty 5 years

During my tenure as a teacher, I served more than 6,000 students, 11 principals, and 5 superintendents/directors. I taught everyone from 5th grade through college level in every school plan from open-classroom concept to the new middle school design of the 1970s to grouping students academically to alternative school and summer school. I have taught both the six period traditional schedule and block schedule. I have been honored to serve the best and brightest and the remedial students and every student in my presence. I have sponsored Beta Club, school newspapers, yearbooks, cheerleaders, school television daily broadcasting, literary magazines and student performances for our parents, our veterans, and our senior citizens that each offered a means of involving students by honoring their accomplishments and showcasing their talents.

I served on Advisory Council to three superintendents.

I served on the JCHS discipline committee and Response Team.

I produced the JCHS Student handbook from 1987-2001.

I policed the JCHS tardy system and supervised Morning detention 1987-2002.

I wrote instructional programs, grants, and strategic improvement plans.

I directed the veterans program in Night of the Patriots.

I produced the first Emergency Response Procedures and Drills flip chart manual for JCHS, which became a countywide model in 2000.

In short, I gave my all to my students and my principals and retired in May 2002 to care for my mother, a stroke victim who lived with us for 17 years, and to help with raising my grandchildren. That was 16 years ago. In the past 16 years, I have been the care giver. My life has been blessed with the ability to be a family member to care for those who needed me most. Having fulfilled my duty to family, I now have the opportunity to return to serving my former students and the schools I loved so much.

That is why I am seeking a way to serve by being a school board member who represents the 1st, 2nd, and 8th districts.

As your board member, I pledge to give my all to serving you. I will listen to your opinions, ideas, and suggestions that will improve quality and resolve problems. You will find me ready to volunteer my time to affect improvement programs that will enhance academics, arts, and sports programs for students.

I believe a day at school anywhere is a privilege for everyone inside. I can name every teacher I had since I enrolled in Dandridge Elementary in 1956 and tell something special I learned from each. I remember every bus driver and all the lunch ladies who offered words of encouragement and smiles as we went through the lunch lines. Custodians kept our rooms clean and warm. Children need a school that welcomes them with warmth and security. They should feel excited enough to think, “I GET to go to school today!” This is the atmosphere where learning is a joy and teachers are excited to prepare each student for his next level with a head full of knowledge and a heart full of warm memories of the days in that school.

Making our schools a state and national model is my goal.

I am a lifelong Jefferson County resident. I want a Jefferson County that attracts others to our community because we have the best schools in the state. We can achieve this goal without wasting tax dollars. Attitude makes all the difference for every stakeholder in the educational process. I believe advances in technology are wonderful, but I will always know that gadgets don’t teach–people do! I hope I can help make classrooms a place the teachers and students meet each day ready to learn and to make fond memories of the class.

If you have the same feelings about what schools should offer, vote for me, Janie Slaton. Give me a challenge. Together we can raise the quality of education without raising taxes. Make your vote count in the August 2 General Election.

Thank you for your support,
Janie Slaton