SUCCESS

HC*EXCELL’s “Cradle through Career Initiative” sparked SUCCESS, an acronym for “Strategically Utilizing Community Creativity Empowering Student Success.” SUCCESS involves five components of work which include the following:

1. Ready by 6: Endeavors to increase the number of children entering school prepared for success

2. Arts Build Skills: Targets broadening student critical thinking and problem-solving skills by increasing integration of the arts in the elementary and middle school curriculum

3. Workforce and Leadership Development: Focuses on improving the alignment of academic instruction workforce skills and access to hands-on learning

4. Post-Secondary Readiness: strives for improved student post-secondary preparation and successful completion

5. Herbert S. Walters Fund: solicits and provides funds for teacher professional development, recognition and appreciation.

HC*EXCELL or Hamblen County Foundation for Educational Excellence and Achievement is a 501 (c)(3) independent non-profit, non-partisan Education Foundation. Our mission is to promote educational excellence and achievement as a means of sustaining economic prosperity and improving the quality of life in Hamblen County.

The previous chair of the Tuff Torq Corporation, Dr. Kojiro Yamaoka, gifted $50,000 to support a higher education scholarship in 1990. Dr. Kojiro inspired Dwight Nelson, then interim president of the Morristown Area Chamber of Commerce, Earnest Walker Ed.D., then superintendent of the Hamblen County School System, and Takao Ogishita, then president of Tuff Torq Corporation to start HC*EXCELL.

The Foundation has been an advocate and funder of initiatives for improved student achievement, enhanced preparation for higher education, and workforce development. Our program of work has evolved from scholarships and grant administration to a focus on facilitating collaborative support and systemic improvements in public education. We believe that the economic health of our community rests on the simple notion that “educated citizens equals a healthy economy.

HC*EXCELL works to further its mission by focusing on the five core areas of the Foundation’s new five-year SUCCESS Initiative. “SUCCESS” stands for Strategically Utilizing Community Creativity Empowering Student Success. The Foundation will achieve this by following:

• Creating and implementing a community plan for increasing the number of children entering school ready for success

• Developing strategies for increasing art programming and instruction in our elementary schools

• Introducing and expanding elementary and middle school workforce skills

• Reinforcing post-secondary opportunities and successes

• Sponsoring educator professional development, recognition and appreciation

To learn more about our organization or how you can help, contact us today.

History

During their plant dedication on April 20, 1990, Dr. Kojiro Yamaoka, Chairman of the Tuff Torq Corporation, announced a $50,000 gift to endow higher education scholarships. This led to the founding of the Hamblen County Foundation for Educational Excellence and Achievement, (HCEXCELL), a 501 (c) (3) independent education foundation with the Mission to promote educational excellence and achievement as a means of sustaining economic prosperity and improving the quality of life in Hamblen County. Since its founding, HC*EXCELL has grown to begin initiatives and campaigns to promote the arts and school readiness for teachers and students.