I’ve attended two events in the 24 hours that left those attending feeling encouraged.
Last night our new Knox County School Superitendent Dr. Jim McIntrye outlined his vision for the future of our schools…which really means the future of our community. He certainly talked about some of the good things our schools do now, but made it clear there are areas where we need to do far better and techniques we have not yet pursued. He talked about helping kids at all levels and not always through traditional techniques. And he talked about accountability, which is critical to public acceptance. He made it clear all this will cost more money, but the need for better funding was not the focus of his talk. I’ve met Dr. Mcintrye a couple of times and I’m impressed. You can read a summary of his vision, with a link to the full report here.
The second event was the annual East Tennessee Economic Council Muddy Boot Awards in Oak Ridge which honor people who have contributed greatly to the community. The speaker was David Geanacopoulos, an EVP with Volkswagen, which is building a plant in Chattanooga. Exciting and interesting stuff. But the really encouraging part came when he talked about VW making the dcecision and dealing with people from 14 or 15 states. He said that in Tennessee everyone worked together as a team–Senators, Congressmen, the Governor, local Mayors, economic development folks. According to Geanacopoulos (OK…that’s the last time I type that name) no one was worried about themselves or getting credit, that it was truly a team effort.
That’s encouraging under any conditions, Knowing that it involved both elected Democrats and Republicans was equally as encouraging.
Taken together these two events should make all of us feel a little more optomistic about the future.
Of course the real surprise is that I got invited to two events in 24 hours. Go figure.
OK….everybody back to work.
