SAM Welcomes Seven New Board Members and Director of Data Management

Spartanburg Academic Movement welcomed seven new members to our Board of Trustees at our annual meeting on August 19, 2015.

The newly elected Board Members are Melvin Brewton (School District 4 School Board & Load Logistics Manager, Walmart Southeast Regional Operational Center), Debra Clements (Sr. VP, Sr. General Counsel & Corporate Secretary, Milliken & Company), Henry Giles (President, Spartanburg Community College), Susanne Hite (Director of Marketing and Communications, AFL), John Miller (President & CEO, Denny’s), Kathy Sinclair (VP, Human Resources, SRHS) and Alonzo Thompson (Police Chief, City of Spartanburg).

Joining ten other community leaders who have served on the Board since SAMs launch in 2012, new members bring unique leadership skills and commitment to the collective impact work of SAM. Their passion for improving outcomes for Spartanburg County students is fundamental to the culture shift needed to support academic achievement from cradle to career.

Last month, we increased our staff capacity with the addition of Blake Baldwin as Director of Data Management.  His expertise will allow SAM to effectively administer the data gathered to measure school readiness, third grade reading, eighth grade math, high school graduation and college and career readiness. Blake is a recent graduate of Furman University with a bachelor’s degree in economics and a minor in Chinese.