DR. DANNY WEEKS NAMED 2023 TENNESSEE SUPERINTENDENT OF THE YEAR

The Tennessee Organization of School Superintendents (TOSS) met in Gatlinburg, Tennessee on September 18th, 2022, for their annual Awards Banquet.  The 2023 Tennessee Superintendent of the Year was announced at the banquet on Sunday night.  This year the honored award recipient was Dr. Danny Weeks of Dickson County Schools, representing the Mid-Cumberland region of Tennessee.

Dr. Weeks was selected for this honor from a distinguished group of eight Regional Superintendents of the Year, which included Mr. Bill Hall (Scott County Schools), East; Mr. John English (Unicoi County Schools), First; Mr. Mark Florence (Benton County Schools), Northwest; Mr. Benny Pace (Lewis County Schools), South Central; Mr. Clint Baker (Meigs County Schools), Southeast; Mr. Shawn Kimble (Lauderdale County Schools), Southwest; and Ms. Kristy Brown (Jackson County Schools), Upper Cumberland Tennessee.   

Raised in Greenbrier, Tennessee by lifelong educators, Dr. Danny Weeks learned the value of an education, a Christian home, and the importance of hard work and dedication. Dr. Weeks attended public schools in Robertson County, Tennessee, graduating from Greenbrier High School. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education from Austin Peay State University in 1987, the Master of Arts in Education in 1989 and the Educational Specialist degree in 1991. He earned the Doctorate in Education from Tennessee State University in 1994.

Prior to accepting the Superintendency at Dickson County Schools, Dr. Weeks spent his education career in Robertson County. His career began as a mathematics teacher at the high school from which he graduated, Greenbriar High School. In Robertson County, he went on to hold the titles of Assistant Principal, Principal, Supervisor of Secondary Education and Student Services, and finally Assistant Director of Schools from 2005-2012.

Since becoming the Director of Schools in Dickson County, Dr. Weeks has put an emphasis on supporting his community. He believes that teachers are the most important factor influencing student success and has implemented practices to further support his teachers and administrators. During the last three years, Dickson County Schools has restructured the Special Education Department in an effort to close, and eventually eliminate, their achievement gap between special education and regular education students. Under his leadership, Dickson County Schools has received the Tennessee Department of Education’s “Best for All” recognition in 2022. Dr. Weeks says that this recognition has inspired him and his community to seek ways to improve their practices, by asking “How can we be better?” every day. Dr. Weeks faithfully serves his church, First Baptist Church Greenbriar, as Sunday School teacher, Deacon, and the church organist. In his free time, he enjoys watching and attending all things University of Tennessee football with his family and friends.

TOSS Executive Director, Dr. Dale Lynch stated, “I want to congratulate all this year’s Regional Superintendents of the Year. A special congratulations goes to Dr. Danny Weeks for being selected as the 2023 Tennessee Superintendent of the Year. Dr. Weeks is an extraordinary leader and constantly goes above and beyond to serve his students and community. I am honored to have the opportunity to work with him and have no doubt that he will be an excellent representative of Tennessee in the American Association of School Administrators (AASA) National Superintendent of the Year Program.”

Dr. Weeks will represent the state of Tennessee at the 2023 AASA National Conference on Education, which will be held in San Antonio, Texas this February. 

TOSS also presented the George "Kip" Reel Award for Leadership in Education to Ms. Susie Benefield of TOSS and the Friend of TOSS Award to Dr. Sara Morrison, Executive Director of the Tennessee State Board of Education.

TENNESSEE ORGANIZATION OF SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENTS (TOSS) REFUTES HILLSDALE COLLEGE PRESIDENT’S REMARKS

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Tennessee Organization of School Superintendents Board of Directors met on July 7, 2022 and voted unanimously to provide this public statement refuting the disparaging statements about public educators made by the President of Hillsdale College, Larry Arnn in Franklin, Tennessee released late last week. Tennessee Superintendents/Directors recognize the profound value of Tennessee teachers and celebrate their indispensable role in creating a brighter future for Tennesseans.

The following statements made by Mr. Arnn demonstrate the disdain he obviously holds for Tennessee educators.

• “The teachers are trained in the dumbest parts of the dumbest colleges in the country.”

• “They are taught that they are going to go and do something to these kids.”

• “Do they ever talk about anything except what they are going to do to these kids?”

• “You will see how education destroys generations of people. It’s devastating. It’s like the plague.”

• “Here’s a key thing that we’re going to try to do. We are going to try to demonstrate that you

  don’t have to be an expert to educate a child because basically anybody can do it.”

In a speech at the Sorbonne in Paris on April 23, 1910, Theodore Roosevelt said the following:

“It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.”

Tennessee teachers are “in the arena” every day, and the Tennessee Organization of School Superintendents has supported and will continue to support public educators.

Tennessee public school students, past and present, practice the benefits they receive from teachers in public classrooms. They do research in world-class scientific institutions. They build automobiles. They grow the food that feeds the nation and, indeed, the world. They dispense justice and defend the defenseless. They heal the sick. They fuel commerce through entrepreneurship. They minister to congregations. And, yes, teachers prepare children in classrooms for all of these, and countless other professions.

Public schools and teachers in Tennessee accept every child regardless of ability, background, or disability. The goal is to make every student an educated, productive citizen. Teachers do far more than provide quality instruction to their students. They also provide food, clothing, counseling, tutoring, protection from abuse, medical assistance, and assurances of safety. Special educators, in particular, provide exceptional services for every imaginable disability, including children ranging from the exceedingly gifted to those with profound disabilities.

Unfortunately for Mr. Arnn, a public school critic, a public school education also confers the ability to listen, analyze, discern, and comprehend. It is clear that the motive for Mr. Arnn’s criticism of public schools and public school teachers is driven by his desire to expand his charter school empire into Tennessee. And from all indications, he has the assistance he seeks in this endeavor.

The value of public education and public school teachers cannot be adequately stated in any single writing. Rather, the value of public schools and public school teachers is demonstrated in the daily lives of Tennesseans who worship, work, give of their time and resources, assist their neighbors, and vote. The Tennessee Organization of School Superintendents gives its profound thanks to all of those in public education who strive daily to make this state a better place to live for all of its residents.

Rest assured, the Tennessee Organization of School Superintendents will work diligently to resist the efforts of misguided critics who are not “in the arena” and whose supercilious opinions are worthy only of collective disdain.

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