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Page 10
January 2015
arlington middle
AMS Celebrates Long-Time Plant Manager Nathan Coleman
By Jennifer Beasley
A Shelby County lawmaker and three local school counselors swept the top awards recognizing outstanding service
achievements at the Tennessee Counseling School Association’s (TSCA) annual meeting held recently in Murfreesboro.
Senate Majority Leader Mark Norris (R-Collierville)
received the group’s “Legislator of the Year Award,” while
three of his constituents, Skip Ruzicka, Kim Jessee and Lauren Baker took top honors for their work as school counselors. Ruzicka and Jessee received the Middle School Counselor of the Year and Elementary School Counselor of the
Year respectively, while Baker was awarded the Phoebe
White Award for Counseling Advocacy.
“I am humbled to receive this award and to stand alongside
three of my constituents who were honored for their outstanding achievement in the important work of student counseling,” said Senator Norris. “The recipients represent three
of the six municipal school systems in Shelby County, and I
am very proud of their work.”
TSCA receives nominations for the awards from individual
TSCA members as well as from TSCA Chapter Boards, with
selections made by the Awards committee. The committee
evaluates all materials submitted and selects one recipient for
each category.
“Our school counselors play vital roles in helping students
reach their full potential,” added Norris. “It is an honor to
partner with them to strengthen programs that prepare students for the challenges of the 21st century through academic,
career and personal development.”
DISTRICT NEWS
ACS Teacher
Honored
Michelle
Sluder , English as
a Second Language Teacher at
Arlington Middle
and High Schools,
has been chosen
to receive the
2015
TESOL
(Teachers
of
English to Speakers of Other Languages) Virginia
French
Allen
Award.
This
international
award is given to
an educator that
has
provided
contributions to
the field of educating
English
Language Learners and the greater
community.
Sluder
will
receive this award
at the annual
TESOL Convention in March in
Toronto, Canada.
Sluder and the
Arlington Com-
Photo by Jerry Borwick Photography
As plant manager of AMS for the last
14 years, Nathan Coleman has kept
AMS running like a well-oiled machine,
handling all the maintenance, lawn care,
and the well being of the building and its
staff. Rarely taking a sick day during his
tenure as a Bobcat, Coleman is the first
one to arrive in the morning and one of
the hardest and most dedicated
employees at the school.
December 18, 2014, was declared
“We Love Mr. Coleman!” Day by the
AMS faculty, staff, and students.
Faculty, staff, and students weredecked
out in Bobcat, Memphis Tigers/
Grizzlies, or Dallas Cowboy blue to
honor this wonderful man.
On Thursday morning, Coleman was
surprised in the library by the faculty and
staff, along with Superintendent Tammy
Mason, Chief of Staff Jeff Mayo, and
Board Members Dale Viox, Kay
Williams, and Barbara Fletcher, as well
as Coleman’s wife, sister, and son.
A speechless Coleman uttered,
“Would someone mind telling me
what’s going on?” Shortly thereafter,
the faculty presented him with a
narrative poem written about him,
several gifts, including Grizzlies tickets,
and a basket full of thank-you letters, all
in hopes of showing true appreciation for
all his years of dedication and service to
AMS.
Superintendent Mason stated, “Mr.
Coleman loves AMS just as much as
you (AMS) loves him.”
Arlington photographer Jerry
Borwick was on hand to capture the
moments of the celebration, along with a
faculty picture and a school-wide picture
later that morning with the students in
the bus lane. Students also completed
“Paw prints of Praise,” which were
individual thank-notes posted in a trail
along the hallway walls for him. Both
breakfast and lunch were provided for
Coleman, while students and faculty
greeted him throughout the day with
thanks and praise.
Arlington Community SchoolsBoard
Member and former principal at
Lakeland Elementary Kay Williams
shared that she met Coleman twenty
years ago, and “knew she’d found a
gem.” She also added, “He’s the best
plant manager I’ve ever met.”
SCHOOL NOTES
Geographic Bee Winners
Photo Courtesy of ACS
Michelle Sluder, 2015 Virginia
French Allen Award Recipient
munity Schools
Adult ESL classes
she teaches were
featured in the
December 2014
edition of The
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