Two Lee County Schools officials have been recognized for their extensive efforts – individually and together – to promote support for local and state public schools, teachers and students.
Williams Owens, chairman of the Lee County Board of Education, and Dr. Jim Evans, superintendent of the Lee County system, have been presented with the 2015 KSBA Kids First Advocacy Awards.
“Dr. Evans and Mr. Owens are leaders in promoting and supporting the things that schools need to make the most of every child’s education experience in Kentucky,” said Hope McLaughlin, KSBA’s director of Governmental Relations. Each of the men receiving this award this year showed an amazing grasp of what it takes to be an effective advocate. Both of them recognized that effective advocacy takes relationship building across communities, businesses and organizations across the Commonwealth.”
Evans and Owens were cited for their work to improve technology and Internet service to their schools and community.
“These men saw a need in their community and an opportunity to address that need,” McLaughlin said. “Access to quality Internet services can be a problem for our children, not necessarily in our schools, but after they return home. Our award winners also successfully partnered with a large coalition of groups to address this issue through telecom deregulation in the 2014 legislative session.”
Evans is in his eighth year as superintendent of Lee County Schools. Owens is in his 25th year on the Lee County Board of Education and is a past recipient of the Kentucky PTA’s Warren Proudfoot Outstanding School Board Member Award.
Evans and Owens were honored during KSBA’s Summer Leadership Institute in Lexington.