Special to the Advocate

26 current south central Alabama school board members were among 271 board members statewide honored Dec. 9 for their achievements in the Alabama Association of School Boards' School Board Member Academy. They were recognized during AASB's annual convention in Birmingham.

The 26 board members were honored for their efforts to improve their boardmanship knowledge, increase their understanding of education issues and heighten their leadership skills by participating in the Academy.

The Academy, an ongoing &#8220school for school board members,” has four achievement levels based on the number of credit hours board members earn by attending training sessions and the number of core curriculum courses attended.

The eight core courses focus on the basics of education governance. Board members who complete the Academy and continue their commitment to training can earn the distinction Master School Board Member.

The board members recognized recently are from AASB's District 2, which comprises the Butler, Lowndes, Autauga, Bibb, Chilton, Choctaw, Dallas, Marengo, Perry and Wilcox county school boards, and the Demopolis, Linden and Selma city school boards. They were honored for advancing to the next level of the School Board Member Academy.

One of the board members, Robert A. Lane of Lowndes County, was honored for earning the Master School Board Member distinction for an unprecedented 15th year. Lane, a past president of AASB and who also serves on the board of directors of both the National School Boards Association and AASB, has earned more credits in the Academy than any other member in AASB's history.

Butler County Board of Education president Linda Cook-Hamilton and vice-president Terry Williams achieved Level II, which requires 100 credits and three core courses.

Butler County Board member Joanne Peak achieved Levels II and III, and Butler County Board member Billy Jones achieved Master Level, which requires completion of all four levels plus 25 credits a year, including at least one core course. Jones has achieved this distinction for the eighth year.

Lowndes County Board member Annie Hunter has achieved Master Level for the ninth year.

This year's Academy training courses covered such topics as staff development and effective school board meetings.

The Alabama Association of School Boards represents all of the state's local school boards. For over 50 years, AASB has served education leaders and the interests of local lay control of public education.

Headquartered in Montgomery, AASB provides members with a wide array of services, including boardmanship training seminars, risk-management programs and policy research.