Mission

The Blount Education Initiative’s mission is to make education our community’s top priority by developing a sustained public awareness campaign focusing on the critical issues related to education, by supporting our local schools in their efforts to provide a top-notch education for all students, and by serving as a bridge between the educational community and businesses to develop meaningful collaborations.

History

The most important groundwork for ensuring the future of our children and the Blount community is a strong educational foundation. With this in mind, several forward-thinking individuals took the inspirational message of one of education’s leading experts, Bill Daggett, to heart and started meeting to determine how to make education the community’s No. 1 priority.

Daggett came to Blount County as the keynote speaker of the 2006 Leadership Summit, sponsored by Leadership Blount, Maryville College, and the Center for Strong Communities. In his closing remarks, Daggett encouraged those present to continue the momentum gained by the day’s discussions. Several participants grasped his vision and the wisdom of his words and as a result, began meeting on a regular basis.

This consortium included educators, business leaders and community activists. After meeting on a monthly basis, the group, which ultimately became the Executive Committee for Blount Education Initiative, developed the Initiative’s structure and decided a full-time executive director was needed to carry out the day-to-day mission.

The grass-roots effort is privately funded by businesses and organizations that are concerned about the future of our community. The Initiative desires a high-quality education for all students in our local school systems and with the expectation that they will succeed in whatever field they choose to enter.

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