Anderson County Superintendent Mitchell Recognized by EKU-CKEC As Superintendent of the Year
By: Jayci Lucas
It is one thing to say that your school system has the best Superintendent, but it is another thing entirely to have the award to prove it. This year, Anderson County’s Superintendent Ms. Sheila Mitchell was named EKU-CKEC Superintendent of the year.
Mitchell was nominated for the recognition by Anderson County Director of Curriculum and Assessment, Bobby Murphy. When explaining why Mitchell is deserving of the award, Murphy states that she, “[e]mbodies a servant's heart for the children, faculty/staff, and families of Anderson County Schools. She leads by example daily. In doing so, you can witness her balancing her many priorities with students at the top of that list”. Along with mentoring students and teachers of various schools to make sure the classroom is running smoothly, Murphy notes that Mitchell meets with district leaders to ensure the goals of ACS are fulfilled daily.
She works with ACS to provide friendly customer services in order to work with students, families, and staff, she volunteers throughout the schools to help out with the Kentucky Science center visits, she reads to elementary students in honor of “Read Across America'' week, and she even gives out of her own pocket to support families in need. But that is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the work Mitchell puts into the school system. From a teacher, to a serving principal, who both opened and closed an elementary school, to working as Curriculum Director, to becoming the assistant Superintendent, and finally working her way up to being the Superintendent; who better than someone who knows the ropes and worked throughout the school systems since 1995 to receive this recognition.
Mitchell states that some of her biggest accomplishments include but are not limited to being “defined by KCSS as one of the safest districts in the state and our SRO program winning an award as one of three of the best programs in the state. I remain proud of our academic performance being in the nation's top performing AP pass rates and scoring in the top 25% on the state accountability model.” Anderson County offers a balance between Advanced Placement courses, dual credit college courses, and career and technical education programs, says Mitchell. However, Mitchell is not just proud of the school's safety and academic accomplishment. She also continues to support ACS arts, athletics, and extracurricular activities, seeing as they’ve recently added many opportunities for elementary students to participate in these programs as well.
When asked what element of the criteria for the Superintendent of the Year award that Mitchell most embodies, Murphy claims that professionalism would be the at the top: “The reasoning stems from her innate ability to inspire those around her through her sense of professionalism and leadership.” Mitchell shows great leadership in her ability to inspire others to work towards the same goal. Additionally, Mitchell receiving this award shows other districts how grateful ACS is to have prominent leaders such as Ms. Sheila Mitchell. “In one way or another, she has worked tirelessly her entire career to craft a school district filled with strong, dedicated, professionals who genuinely love serving students, schools, and our broader community with pride, selflessness, and integrity,” expresses Murphy.
With a humble heart, Mitchell is still focused on the future of ACS. As the schools continue to make sure their students are college- and career-ready, there remains a persistant focus on helping those who were socially, emotionally, academically, and behaviorally affected by the pandemic. ACS has come a long way and still continues to grow and get better. After all, like Ms. Mitchell said, “The sky's the limit for our district,” and we can't wait to see how high Mitchell and the rest of the school community can take us.