CERRA Board of Directors Elects New Members

ROCK HILL, SC — April 20, 2009 – The Center for Educator Recruitment, Retention, and Advancement (CERRA) announces the election of ten education advocates representing public and private sectors including K-12 educators and administrators, institutions of higher education and business leaders to its Board of Directors. 

The new members join the 30-member board as each member, old and new, works to change the image of teaching in South Carolina while recruiting, retaining and advancing teachers to the state.

“Our board members provide unparalleled guidance and support to the mission of our organization,” said executive director Gayle Sawyer. “They represent all regions of the state and provide diverse perspectives on education in our state for which we are grateful.”

The following members will hold seats on the CERRA Board until June 2012:

Dr. Dawn Busa
A 28-year veteran of the education profession and past president of the South Carolina Association of School Administrators, Busa is presently an assistant superintendent in Anderson School District Two. She begins her second term on the Board of Directors.

Mr. Chris Christiansen
Christian is the chairman and CEO of The R.L. Bryan Company, which is a strong supporter of many educational organizations across South Carolina. He also hairs the Palmetto Horizon Foundation which financially supports the annual South Carolina Teacher of the Year banquet.

Dr. Bill Coon
An accomplished educator with more than 20 years of experience, Coon says he’s most proud of what his students and teachers do everyday and how they make life better for all of those around them. He taught at Sumter High School and was an assistant principal at Alice Drive Middle School before becoming principal of Pleasant Hill Middle School in Lexington School District One, where he has been since the school opened in 2005.

Dr. Nancy Dunlap
As the associate director of the Eugene T. Moore School of Education at Clemson University, Dunlap is responsible for compliance, national accreditation, certification/licensure, policy issues, budget, facilities, operations, program development, assessment, accountability, and strategic planning. She has been instrumental in facilitating the CERRA’s strategic planning process in the past year and begins her second term on the Board of Directors.

Dr. Bettie Horne
With 40 years of experience as an educator in both public schools and higher education, Horne has previously been named Lander University’s professor of the year. She has been a lifelong supporter of education through local and statewide political campaigns and is a member of the South Carolina Commission on Higher Education.

Dr. Cindy Johnson-Taylor
Now in her third year at Newberry College, Johnson-Taylor sponsors the Teacher Cadet Program in 10 area high schools and oversees the Teaching Fellows Program. Prior to Newberry she was the director of teacher education at Winthrop University for nine years. Once recognized in South Carolina as a driving force in teacher education and school leadership, Johnson-Taylor has served on the South Carolina ADEPT task force and as an assistant principal at Rock Hill High School.

Ms. Tomiko Smalls
A National Board Certified Teacher with 17 years of education experience, Smalls is a former Teacher in Residence with CERRA and has extensive knowledge of the effects of recruitment and retention in hard to staff schools. Smalls is presently a lead teacher at Mossy Creek Elementary in Aiken County School District. She begins her second term on the Board of Directors.

Dr. Stephen Thompson
Through working as chief investigator of the Diverse Pathways Project, Thompson has helped CERRA increase the number of highly qualified minority and non-traditional teachers in South Carolina and recruited students into the Teacher Cadet Program. He spent nine years as a middle-level teacher before becoming an assistant professor of education at the University of South Carolina where he has been since 2002.

Mr. Ronny Townsend
Townsend has been involved in education policy for 29 years from the local level where he served on the Anderson County School District Two Board of Education to the South Carolina House of Representatives. While in the House he served as chairman of the Education and Public Works committee for 12 years. He currently works for the South Carolina Association of School Administrators.

CERRA, an independent state agency located on the campus of Winthrop University, is the oldest and most established teacher recruitment program in the country. The purpose of CERRA is to provide leadership in identifying, attracting, placing and retaining well-qualified individuals for the teaching profession in South Carolina. CERRA’s programs have been adopted at school, district and state levels in more than 30 states in the United States.