Friends and colleagues will join together to honor Collier Andress Smith at the 13th Annual Excellence in Education Gala. Smith joins an exceptional group of civic leaders to be honored by The City Schools Foundation for their support of public education on January 24, 2020.
Smith is a community leader who served on the Board of Education for Murfreesboro City Schools from 2011-2018. A founding Trustee and Secretary of The City Schools Foundation, Smith chaired the first Excellence in Education Gala honoring astronauts Dr. Rhea Seddon and Hoot Gipson in 2007. For the initial years, Smith coordinated much of the Foundation’s fundraising and public relations efforts as well as supported the coordination of the Excellence in Education Gala. In 2017, the Murfreesboro Education Association recognized Smith with the Friends of Education Award.
Smith and her husband Fant have lived in Murfreesboro for 23 years. Their three teenage children, Sally, Fant, and Helen, attended Discovery School for their elementary years. She co-founded Discovery School’s fundraising organization, the Explorer Fund, which was created to establish a science laboratory for the school. She continues to support Discovery School where she initiated and continues to organize the Senior Homecoming Parade. In 2016, the Discovery School Parent Teacher Association honored Smith with its inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award.
“I am humbled to be the 2020 City Schools Foundation Honoree,” says Smith. “Murfreesboro and the City Schools have been so good to our family. It has been our privilege to work to play a small role in supporting the schools amazing, creative teachers.”
Smith’s career path took her to The White House where she was a political appointee for President Bill Clinton as well as Secretary of Labor Robert Reich. Smith worked as political consultant James Carville’s assistant in the Clinton/Gore ’92 campaign’s now infamous War Room. In Tennessee, she placed Charlie Daniels on political talk shows, and worked at Nashville’s Ericson Marketing Communications and as Annual Fund Director at The Webb School, Bell Buckle.
Former honorees include: Doug Young, Drs. Max and Mary Moss, John Floyd, Ed and Andrea Loughry, Tommy and Jeannie Bragg, Dr. Sidney and Elizabeth McPhee, Dr. Susan Andrews, John Hood, Rhea Seddon and “Hoot” Gibson, Gloria and Ted LaRoche, Joyce Taylor, and Bart Gordon.
The 2020 Gala will spotlight Discovery School. Discovery is an academic magnet school and home to approximately 400 students located on Middle Tennessee Boulevard. Ms. Kristina Maddux, principal and Ms. Jessica Snell, assistant principal serve as the administrative team for the school.
In October, The City Schools Foundation awarded over $72,000 to Murfreesboro City School teachers in the form of teacher grants. The Foundation will also give over $20,000 this year to schools for parity grants.
The gala will be held at MTSU’s new Student Union Center featuring a nautical themed party. Brook LaRoche and Stephanie Roach serve as chairs for the 2020 Gala. Reservations for the Gala are now available. Individual tickets may be purchased for $250 and sponsorships begin at $1,500.
The City Schools Foundation is a group of civic and business leaders banding together to benefit Murfreesboro City Schools’ pre-Kindergarten through sixth grade students.
For additional information, please call 893-2313. Murfreesboro City Schools is a district of thirteen schools committed to the academic and personal success of each child.