Scottie Summerlin
Parenting magazine on Saturday announced that Scottie Goodman Summerlin of Signal Mountain has been selected to represent Tennessee at the third annual Mom Congress on Education and Learning conference in Washington, D.C. this April 29-May 1st. Ms. Summerlin was chosen for her outstanding contributions and dedication to improving local schools.
A total of 51 delegates, representing each state and the District of Columbia, have been selected by Parenting from a record-setting number of applications submitted through Parenting.com. Each will receive an all-expense-paid trip to D.C.
for the event, where they’ll have the opportunity to connect with national leaders in education, Parenting editors, and past Mom Congress delegates to exchange ideas on how to improve our nation’s schools.
"I am honored to be Tennessee's delegate for the 2012 Mom Congress," said Ms. Summerlin. "I look forward to meeting Mom Congress delegates from across the country, learning more about how parents can support our public schools, and bringing what I learn in Washington, D.C. back to Tennessee."
The theme of the 2012 Mom Congress conference, “Teach Me Something New,” is dedicated to fostering the crucially important relationship between parents and their children’s teachers. For the third consecutive year, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan headlines the roster of education and advocacy leaders scheduled to address the delegates at the conference. Others scheduled to appear include NBC News’ Education Nation, First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move!, Save the Children, National PTA, National Education Association, Teach for America, and more.
Ms. Summerlin is passionate about her role as a public education advocate. The former television news anchor/reporter now serves as Nolan Elementary PTA president-elect, Hamilton County PTA Communications vice president and Tennessee PTA Communications chair. She is scheduled to attend the National PTA Conference this summer in San Jose, Ca.
Ms. Summerlin is slated to serve as the Education chair on the 2012 United Way of Chattanooga Campaign Cabinet and on the advisory board for the Mountain Education Foundation. Ms. Summerlin is a 2011 Leadership Chattanooga graduate, a Junior League of Chattanooga sustainer, and was named as one of Chattanooga's 2011 Women of Distinction.
Ms. Summerlin will also serve as the parent representative on the SCORE (State Collaborative on Reforming Education) Teacher Evaluation Chattanooga Regional Roundtable on Monday, March 12, at Chattanooga State Community College's Berry Auditorium from 4:30-6:30 p.m.
Mandy Grisham, from Memphis, was the 2011 Mom Congress Tennessee Delegate. After participating in Mom Congress, Ms. Grisham put together a parent panel for CNN for a National Town Hall meeting to discuss education reform. She had a "Delegate of the Week" blog spot on Parenting.com. The U.S. Department of Education invited Ms. Grisham to blog for its website and invited her to attend a reception and a private tour of the White House in December. Ms. Grisham has been back to Washington, D.C. several times to advocate for education reform. She is a former music teacher and is currently PTA president at Peabody Elementary in Memphis.
Ms. Grisham will be Ms. Summerlin's mentor at the 2012 Parenting magazine Mom Congress in Washington, D.C. The two are also scheduled to attend "PTA Day on the Hill" together on Wednesday, April 18, to meet with state lawmakers at the State Capitol in Nashville.
Empowered and inspired by attending the conference, past delegates have returned to their states to create significant change in their school systems, affecting the lives of thousands of children nationwide. In 2010, delegates worked with Parenting editors at the conference to create the “Lesson Plan for Change”, a blueprint to empower parents to get more involved in their children’s education that appeared in Parenting School Years magazine and the bestselling companion guide to the documentary Waiting for Superman.
The 2011 class of delegates’ accomplishments include the creation of a nationwide book drive in support of early literacy, Books Make it Better; recognition through The White House “Champions of Change” program; the improvement of several school lunch programs across the country; and the development of new educational resources and programs in nearly every state, from early science education workshops in Florida to a new parental advocacy program, Camp Educate, in California.
Faculty members from Georgetown University’s School of Continuing Studies—the Mom Congress educational provider—will lead informative sessions at the conference this year, offering advocacy training workshops to help delegates take what they’ve learned and put it to work in their own communities.
Driven by the ever-increasing role that parents play in advocating for positive change in the education system, Parenting magazine launched the Mom Congress initiative in 2009 to celebrate and connect parents working to improve our nation’s schools. Each month, Parenting and Parenting.com give readers and the 25,000+ Mom Congress members updated educational news and resources to help them make a difference and bring about positive changes for students.