Missy Crutchfield
Missy Crutchfield has announced in a Facebook live video she is running for Hamilton County School Board District 4 in the March 5 Primary Election.
Ms. Crutchfield said her campaign is focusing on safe school facilities, attracting and retaining teaching talent, offering students better access to public libraries, outdoor education, healthy school food options, and mental health resources, among other initiatives in the works.
Her campaign said, "Missy Crutchfield has a long history in education and government, having served as Vice President at Chattanooga State Community College and Assistant to the Chancellor at University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC), and having been appointed by Mayor Ron Littlefield as Administrator of the Department of Education, Arts & Culture (EAC) for two terms during which she and her team coordinated in-school and afterschool programming and partnerships with Hamilton County Schools, City of Chattanooga Parks and Recreation centers, community centers, neighborhood groups, churches, and nonprofits.
"Highlights of some of the work completed under the umbrella of the Department of Education, Arts & Culture included the Gandhi Visits Chattanooga tour in 2012 with Mahatma Gandhi's grandson Arun Gandhi visiting and speaking about nonviolence with young people in schools and community centers across the city; "Celebrating Freedom" Black History Month and "Celebrating Literacy" National Reading Month programs with Howard School students and senior citizen residents at Mary Walker Towers in partnership with Chattanooga's African American newspaper, the News Chronicle; "What's Going On?" reading initiative and social issue book sections distributed to Hamilton County Schools, Public Library branches, Chattanooga Neighborhood Centers, and city of Chattanooga Recreation Centers and tailored for elementary, middle, and high school students; "Connecting the Dots with Technology" initiative which incorporated donated corporate computers to the Hamilton County Virtual School and city of Chattanooga Community and Recreation Centers so students would have access to computer labs in their neighborhoods during afterschool hours; and arts and social issues workshops and nonviolence and conflict resolution training with students at Washington Alternative School, among other Hamilton County Schools.
"In addition to her leadership experience working in education and government, Ms. Crutchfield has a Bachelors in Criminal Justice from University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC) and a Masters in Mass Communications from Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU). She is also a graduate of Gallup Leadership Institute, Leadership Chattanooga, Global Diversity Leadership with Deborah Levine, ArtsBuild's Holmberg Arts Leadership Institute, and the Chattanooga Police Department Citizens Police Academy. She is Co-Founder and Co-Editor of Be Magazine and Co-Founder of Gandhi Global Center For Peace (which she co-founded with Mahatma Gandhi’s grandson Arun Gandhi). Crutchfield is also a E-RYT 500 Yoga Instructor and teaches at Toes Yoga and Siskin Rehabilitation Hospital Fitness Center in Chattanooga, Tennessee. And she is a passionate and globally recognized human rights, civil rights, animal rights, and vegan activist.
Ms. Crutchfield said, "I believe change begins with young people. They are the ones we have been waiting for, the leaders who can really help bring about change, starting in their schools and communities and beyond.
"Every great city is built on a strong public education system. I will work for every student and every school to make sure they have the resources they need to be the change in their schools, communities, careers, and ultimately in pursuing their life purpose."