BEI in the News
Since its inception, the Blount Education Initiative’s top priority has been to promote education in our community. To that end, BEI researches, organizes and shares information on the educational front here in Blount County. This section will keep you updated about our organization’s activities and initiatives.
Tennessee’s Educational Reform Efforts Are Well Underway
A wake up call several years ago led Tennessee to reform its educational requirements so that students are better prepared for life after high school. BEI Executive Director Bonny Millard discusses some of those changes, why they were necessary and what needs to be done, in a recent podcast.
August 13th, 2010
BEI Director Shares the Results of a High School Senior Survey with WBIR
WBIR anchor John Becker interviews Executive Director Bonny Millard during a segment of Newsmakers about BEI’s recent high school Senior Survey. The survey shows that our students are listening and are preparing for their future. Watch the interview with Becker.
May 7th, 2010
BEI’s Message Heard in the East Tennessee Region
Knoxville News Sentinel columnist Greg Johnson helps share BEI’s message in a recent column he wrote on Tennessee’s winning the “Race to the Top” funding.
April 12th, 2010
Graduation Coaches Are Making a Difference
Interested in seeing what the graduation rates are in our community schools? An article in The Daily Times provides information about all four high schools and how, in some cases, the rates have greatly improved over the last several years. Our educators are working hard to make sure our students graduate from high school on time.
February 12th, 2010
Gubernatorial candidates discuss state’s No.1 priority: education
The Blount Education Initiative (BEI) hosted the Gubernatorial Community Forum that was open to the public. Four candidates discussed a wide range of topics from Pre-K, special education, taxes, higher education to the new state standards.
October 27th, 2009
BEI’s Gubernatorial Community Forum to be Televised and Streamed on WBIR — To post your proposed questions, click here
Blount Education Initiative is pleased to announce that the upcoming Gubernatorial Community Forum will be televised live on WBIR’s 10News2 on Oct. 26 from 7-8:30 p.m. as well as being streamed live on their Web site at www.wbir.com.
October 12th, 2009
Changes in Graduation Requirement
In 2008, Gov. Bredesen commended the State Board of Education’s decision to officially adopt more rigorous graduation requirements in Tennessee. The Tennessee Diploma Project (TDP) redefines the K-12 experience as an initiative to raise Tennessee’s standards and curriculum to better prepare students to be successful after high school, says the Blount Education Initiative, a grassroots organization charged with advancing educational priorities in Blount County.
August 20th, 2009
BEI President Mark Cate on WBIR
WBIR News Anchor John Becker interviews Blount Education Initiative (BEI) President Mark Cate about BEI research that exposes a disconnect between high school senior’s and community’s perceptions of educational importance. Survey validates parents play lead role in influencing students to graduate from high school.
June 8th, 2009
How do Blount County residents value education?
Please join the Blount Education Initiative at 4 p.m. Thursday, April 2, to learn where Blount County residents stand on education as the community’s top priority and how we will support education awareness in 2009-2010. BEI uses a grassroots approach to supporting education and making it our community’s top priority. Please join us in this [...]
March 20th, 2009
MHS’s Ferguson wins National award
By Sharon Anglim —
Penny Ferguson will join the ranks of only two other Tennesseeans when she is inducted into the National Teachers Hall of Fame in Kansas this summer.
Dr. Ferguson was recognized at Maryville High School on Tuesday afternoon as students, fellow-teachers, administrators, public officials, and others joined to honor this special educator. Since the Hall of Fame was established in 1989, only 80 educators nationwide have been inducted.
April 25th, 2008