School board members and superintendents from 10 Georgia school systems will graduate Monday from the Georgia School Boards Association’s leadership training program.

The school systems were selected earlier this year by the Georgia School Boards Association to participate in Leadership GSBA, a new program co-sponsored by Georgia Power. The program is designed to create better teamwork between a system’s school board and superintendent, with an emphasis on developing stronger leadership skills and a deeper understanding of educational issues. The commitment to participate in Leadership GSBA was formalized with the school systems at their board meetings earlier in the year.

"I really appreciate the opportunity that was afforded to us thanks to the partnership between the Georgia School Boards Association and Georgia Power,” said Jimmy Coffel, a Camden County School board member. “The education professionals Georgia Power and GSBA provided to speak and lead the sessions were excellent in both knowledge and presentation. I am looking forward to putting to use what we have learned to help our public schools become even better,” Coffel added.

The training was held at Heart of Georgia Technical College in Dublin, where the graduation ceremony will take place Monday at noon.

"The partnership with Georgia Power and our Leadership GSBA program continues to produce exciting results for us and for local school boards,” said GSBA Executive Director Jeannie M. (Sis) Henry.

“We have been able to expose many more boards to this powerful leadership program because of Georgia Power`s significant support. Improving student achievement in Georgia is what partnerships like this are all about." The main emphasis of Leadership GSBA is to create informed, cohesive leadership teams at the local level.

By using a team approach to governance, local boards and superintendents can be more effective in instituting improvements in student achievement and school system operations, Henry said.

During the program, each team developed an operational plan for improving student achievement in their schools. GSBA will continue to work with the school systems to ensure effective implementation of the plans. This year’s participating school systems were Thomaston-Upson, Paulding, Madison, Jenkins, Harris, Emanuel, Cook, Camden, Brantley and Ben Hill.

“Georgia Power has a longstanding commitment to improving education. We believe that teamwork and collaboration between the schools and business are fundamental to improving education and creating a high-quality workforce in Georgia,” said Kerry Campbell, Georgia Power’s community development manager.

“We commend the participating school board members and superintendents for their dedication and commitment and congratulate them on successfully completing the training program.”

GSBA is a voluntary association of the state’s 180 public school systems. The association provides training, services and support to assist school boards in carrying out their roles and responsibilities. Its web site, www.gsba.com, provides a wealth of information to school board members and educational leaders.