Video: Yennie began, ending five years in Sullivan County schools with three "L" words

BLOUNTVILLE — When Jubal Yennie became Sullivan County director of schools in 2010, he started out with three "L" words.Five years later, as he prepares to leave for a new job in Wyoming, he's ending up with three "L" words that overlap but don't mirror the first three."I started that (2010) press conference with listen, learn and lead," Yennie said in a recent interview in his office, already cleared of many wall hangings in preparation for his move. "It ends up being learning, leadership and love."In between, he said he's made what he predicted will be lifelong friends and with a great staff has helped improve students and the school system.Yennie's last official day on the job heading the region's largest pre-K-12 school system of more than 10,000 students is June 30, but his last physical day will be June 23, as he heads to Nashville the next day to attend his son's wedding before moving on to Albany County, Wyo., where he will become superintendent of a 3,800-student system headquartered in Laramie.A son in a military family who later served in the military before going into education, Yennie has lived all across the country and world and said he expects to have Sullivan County Christmas cards coming to him in Wyoming in six months, as well as cards going to Sullivan County folks.Laramie is home to his bachelor's and master's degree alma mater of the University of Wyoming, and he began his teaching and administrative career in Wyoming. He later got his doctoral degree at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, was a consultant and then an assistant superintendent in Williamson County near Nashville before coming to Sullivan County. He and his wife's families also live in Wyoming.The first "L" word he's leaving with is learning. Looking back on his five years here, he said the system went from the post-No Child Left Behind era through Race to the Top, both federal programs, ending with the college and career readiness movement pushed in Tennessee and nationwide.The ideas went from getting all students ready for college to acknowledging that a two-year degree was also a worthy path but that those who went straight to the workforce needed the same level as the first two groups."We had a great deal of improvements learning wise," Yennie said, including have five schools in one year be named Rewards Schools by Tennessee.Common Core Standards also made the scene, although not without controversy, but Yennie said the school system focused on learning more than just outside mandates."We were also focusing on our own learning," Yenne said of a movement toward better formative assessments, which is determining where student learning falls short before the end of a course or school year.Sullivan North High School had the largest ACT composite score gains in the county, while Sullivan South High continued to have a higher ACT composite than Kingsport's Dobyns-Bennett or Johnson City's Science Hill high schools.Yennie critic Todd Broughton, a school board member from Bloomingdale elected to the board after Yennie was hired, said he believes parental involvement — something the board wants to increase — helps ACT scores.The second word is leadership, which Yennie said includes his goal of increasing the in-house leadership capacity of the school system.He said he worked to give principals more opportunities for learning and leadership capacities. "I need principals to take care of teachers who take care of kids," Yennie said.At a recent principals meeting, of 22 principals across the system he said only a handful had been principals more than five years.BOE Chairman Dan Wells said Yennie has been highly visible and involved with higher education, businesses and the community at large.He also lauded Yennie's collaborative efforts with teachers and principals."I think he's been a good leader," Wells said.Yennie said quality leadership training through the Pal's Institute and training from Vanderbilt University professor Joseph Murphy have helped the leadership climate and to strengthen future leaders in the system.And Yennie said he was very pleased with the smooth transition of leadership as the school board June 1 accepted his resignation and unanimously chose operations supervisor Evelyn Rafalowski as interim director effective July 1."That feels good to me," Yennie said.He and Rafalowski, a 38-year veteran of the system with 25 years experience in the central office, have been cleaning out their offices as she moves into his.Love is the third word, which he said reflects a caring spirit and demonstrating respect and professionalism and civility.The goal of those is to raise expectations and have good treatment of others, he said."There's always enough love to go around," Yennie said.