Debbie Colburn
Hamilton County School Board member Debbie Colburn will receive the Tennessee Congress of Parents and Teachers award as the School Board Member of the Year on Thursday.
The award will be presented at 5:30 p.m. at the Hamilton County Department of Education on Bonny Oaks Drive.
Colburn, who is also running for the House District 30 seat, was nominated by East Ridge Elementary School.
Ms. Colburn has been on the school board for 10 years.
A long-time public education and community leader, she is the former owner of an antique and collectible business. Currently, she is the co-owner of Keynotes, a public speaking/engagement company.
She served as the first and only female chairman of the Hamilton County School Board. She has served on numerous committees and currently chairs the Truancy/Attendance Committee. She worked with the Public Education Foundation grant writing team that was responsible for bringing $14 million to high schools in Hamilton County.
Officials said, "School improvement has been a frequent topic in the numerous professional conferences Colburn has addressed across the nation. She has presented at the National Career Academy Conference, The Coalition of Essential Schools' Fall Forum and state conventions of the Tennessee School Boards Association and the Tennessee Parent Teachers Association. She will be a presenter at the Southeast Regional Character Education Conference, summer 2004."
Ms. Colburn is a past president of the Hamilton County Council of PTAs and was awarded life memberships at the state and national levels. She was the general coordinator of Pioneer Frontier Playground and is past president of East Ridge Revitalization Program where she spearheaded neighborhood efforts to create Springvale Park from vacant land.
She is the co-founder of the East Ridge Education Committee (EREC) and initiated a college scholarship fund for East Ridge High School. Later, she was appointed by the county to serve on the Regional Youth Soccer Authority board of directors.
The Tennessee Congress of Parents and Teachers recently recognized her as "Outstanding School Board Member of the Year." She also received the award in 1998. Last year, she was given the state's "Friend to Children" award by the Tennessee Association of School Social Workers for her efforts in school attendance reform.
A 1972 graduate of Brainerd High School, Ms. Colburn attended Chattanooga State. She has completed numerous continuing education classes at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. She participated in the Harvard Seminar on Public Engagement sponsored by the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
She and her husband, Robert Gary, have been married for 31 years and are members of Frawley Baptist Church in East Ridge. They have two daughters, Kelly, 28, and Lindsay, 23.