Page 22 - Florida Sentinel 5-8-20

Feature
Hillsborough County’s New Supt. Meets With Transition Team
BY GWEN HAYES Sentinel Editor
Four African- Americans are among those on the team.
Hillsborough County’s new Superintendent of Schools has selected his Transition Team. The team held its first meeting on Thursday, April 30, 2020.
Since his arrival in Tampa, Superintendent Addison Davis has been quite busy. Coming to the county early to work along- side Supt. Jeff Eakins be- fore his departure, Addison found himself in the middle
DORETHA EDGECOMB
... former School Board Member
of a pandemic – Coron- avirus, which put a damper on his 100-day plan. He has said that his excitement and enthusiasm have increased. Just last week he learned
GWEN L. LUNEY
... former School Administrator
that Governor Ron De- Santis had suspended classes all over the state for the remainder of the school year.
Supt. Addison said in communication with his team:
“It is with great pleasure that I introduce members of my transition team. Each person has been strategically identified because of their experience and success with making deliberate, instruc- tional and operational deci- sions leading to improved outcomes for learners. This team will begin meeting with school board members, in- teracting with district and school-based personnel, re- viewing current curricula re- lated to core content, supplemental materials, and social-emotional learning, along with determining equi- table access for all learners.”
The Superintendent laid out the overall mission of this group.
Members of the team are: Doretha Edgecomb, a for- mer School Board member and educator. The Tampa native has committed 52 years to education.
She is joined by Gwen L. Luney, former Hillsbor- ough County Public School Assistant Superintendent. She has spent nearly 40 years in education in Texas and Florida.
Dr. Samuel L Wright, Sr. retired in 2013 after 35 years in the Florida Retire- ment System.
Since retiring he has be- come an entrepreneur and established the Dr. Samuel L. Wright Consulting, LLC.
Dr. Tracolya Clinch
has 15 years of experience in education and recently served as principal of An-
DR. TRACOLYA CLINCH
drew Jackson High School in Duval County Public Schools. Under Dr. Clinch’s leadership, An- drew Jackson, once the low- est F high school in the state of Florida, doubled enroll- ment, earned 3 consecutive “B” school grades, trans- formed into the district top STEM magnet and was awarded Microsoft Show- case School designation.
Dr. Clinch earned her Specialist and Doctorate de- grees in Educational Leader- ship. She received a Master’s degree in Adult Education and a Bachelor’s degree in Science Education. She has a six-year-old son and four- year-old daughter.
Kim Bays comes to Hillsborough County Public Schools with 22 years of ed- ucation experience in Florida. Before arriving in Hillsborough County, she served as the Chief of Ele- mentary Education for Clay County District Schools.
Terry Connor most re- cently served as the Chief Ac- ademic Officer for Clay County District Schools. During his tenure, the Dis- trict attained its highest graduation rates and in- creased its overall state rank- ing to 8th from 20th as measured by the state ac- countability system.
Melissa Erikson is the co-founder and Executive Director of the Alliance for Public Schools and holds an Ed.M., in Curriculum and Instruction from Boston University. Melissa began her career as a Fellow for the National Science Foundation working on programs de- signed to increase the enroll- ment of women and minority students in second- ary STEM courses.
DR. SAMUEL L. WRIGHT, SR.
Rob Kriete serves as the President of the Hillsbor- ough Classroom Teachers Association, representing teachers and educational professionals. He is a vet- eran classroom teacher with 24 years of experience, all in Hillsborough County.
Dr. Michael Kemp
began his career in the class- room as an exceptional edu- cation teacher in Jacksonville, Florida, where his passion for creating high expectations and closing the “opportunity gap” was initi- ated.
Micheal McAuley is an innovative leader with 27 years in teaching and learn- ing from pre-k to higher ed- ucation. His experiences include district and state level work, as well as na- tional and international lec- turing and consulting.
Ken Otero is a native of Tampa where he attended Hillsborough County Public Schools and graduated from Hillsbor- ough High School. Mr. Otero received a B. A. de- gree from the University of South Florida in Secondary Education and a M. A. de- gree in Educational Leader- ship from the University of Tampa.
Valerie J. Orihuela is a former Area Leadership Director for Area I, with Hillsborough County Public Schools.
Cathy Valdes is a native of Tampa, and a retired Hillsborough County Public Schools Educator. During her 42-year tenure in the school district, she served as teacher, principal, area di- rector, assistant superin- tendent (Chief Facilities Officer) and deputy superin- tendent.
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