Meet your candidates: District 8 board of education

Along with Birmingham’s upcoming mayoral race and election for city council, Birmingham City Schools is also holding elections for new Board of Education members. This year, there are 32 candidates in the running for a total of nine seats.

Of the current nine board members, four are seeking re-election: District 4 representative Daagye Hendricks, District 6 representative Cheri Gardner, District 7 representative Wardine Alexander and District 9 representative Sandra Brown. District 5 representative Randall Woodfin is not seeking re-election but instead running for the mayor’s seat.

District 1 includes Brown Elementary School, Central Park Elementary School, Minor Elementary School, Princeton Elementary School, Bush K-8 School, Bush Hills Academy and Green Acres Middle School. Elections are on Aug. 22.

Antwon Womack 

Antwon Womack wanted to become a member of the Birmingham Board of Education after facing his own obstacles in the education process. “Personally, I understand how effective changes, including dropout reduction programs, impact every student’s future,” he said. “I understand that education is essentially for every child and that the barriers that I faced have actually been eradicated in this new day.”

Womack first entered the Birmingham City School system when he attended Tuxedo Elementary School, then continued to Bush Middle School and Wenonah High School. He has served as a member of the PTA at Bush K-8 since 2016 and is also a member of “Saving our Children through Advocacy,” which is an advocacy group of concerned stakeholders.

In 2015, the same year the advocacy group was created, Womack began attending BOE meetings. “After becoming a member of the American Federation of Teachers, I began attending as a working member and advocate for the best interests of the students,” he said.

Since then, he has participated in board meetings, encouraged other community members and members of the AFT to attend and researched state laws to learn best practices for school boards. He has also attended professional development opportunities regarding fiscal management, board procedures and the effectiveness of State Department of Education and school board initiatives.

As an active member of the Ensley Highlands Neighborhood Association, the AFT and the SOCTA group, Womack believes his time dedicated to the system led to insight into the operations of schools, knowledge of the significance of continuous education plans and assessment data and understating how to appropriate funding will assist him if elected.

“One must have some insight from actually habitually volunteering and observe both pitfalls and triumphs to understand why specific resources are needed,” he said.

If elected, Womack wants to focus on maintaining effective public schools and disallow privatization, provide social workers to assist the growing student population that are facing barriers and create stronger partnerships with higher education institutions. In addition, Womack would like to bridge the gaps between schools by ensuring all students have environments where they can thrive socially and academically with clean, inviting facilities.

“I believe that the Board of Education has the potential of creating additional avenues for student success. When students are successful, it impacts communities. When communities are successful, they impact the city. Cities impact the state. The state impacts the nation,” he said. “I believe that the footprints of success are achievable for all children​ when schools in all districts are equitable and when this checks and balances provided by the Board of Education are based primarily on the best interests of the students and not special interests groups.”

Learn more about Womack and his campaign by finding him on Facebook at “Antwon Womack 2017” or by emailing his campaign manager, Rubie Moore, at seabreena@gmail.com.

Donald Tyrone Silmon

Donald Tyrone Silmon, a product of the Birmingham City School system, attended Woodlawn High School where he participated in a variety of sports. Upon graduation he attended Lawson State Community College and obtained three associate’s degrees in pre-law, psychology and health education. He then moved on to Texas Southern University on a full basketball scholarship with a double major in communications and marketing, and he later used his skills to work in facility management, economic development and community planning in Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, Georgia and Florida.

After the death of his father eight years ago, Silmon moved back to Birmingham to be closer to family. Since his return, he has volunteered and taught in the city schools system, mentored hundreds of students and coached basketball, and his daughter, niece and nephew have entered a local BCS elementary school.

He has also worked with his daughter’s principal to create the Dads on Duty Mentoring Group, which encourages active involvement of fathers at her school in BCS. “The purpose of the group was to encourage dads to serve as room fathers, hall monitors and more,” he said.

When not working with the school system, Silmon is the executive assistant to Mayor William Bell. Silmon believes his experiences working with community revitalization projects, managing budgets and mobilizing support from local businesses and community organizations, in addition to coaching, teaching and mentoring, will help ensure access to resources.

“I will use my expertise and experience in economic development, money management, teaching, coaching and mentoring to help propel the district in the right direction,” he said. “I know that the Birmingham City school system can be the number one school system in the nation.”

He also believes that education is able to be the “great equalizer,” by providing students with what they need to overcome and eliminate poverty and oppression in both local and global communities, he said. “Thus, education is at the heart of any community and is paramount to the social and economic development and well-being of the community,” he said.

Silmon wants to work with all aspects of the community, including district administration, principals, teachers, parents, community leaders, local businesses and community organizations to help give students more opportunities to prepare for college and life beyond.

“When students graduate from high school and in many cases college, we expect them to be able to solve problems that affect our local and global communities, think critically, work independently and collaboratively with others, speak well, write well, read well and [be] proficient with math,” he said. “To assist our students in becoming global-minded citizens who are college and/or career ready, they must have access to opportunities that allow them to grow academically, emotionally, economically, spiritually and socially in supportive and safe learning environments.”

Silmon said administrators, teachers and staff need the support of the community and the district and the superintendent needs the support of the district and the school board.

“As our city continues to progress, our schools must progress as well,” he said. “We must provide and support extracurricular activities such as choir, athletics, band, and clubs that could be a means to pay for college.”

To learn more about his campaign, visit “D. Tyrone Silmon for BCS Board District 8” on Facebook, or find @DtyroneSilmonBCS8 on Instagram and @DtysilmonBCS8 on Twitter.

Sonja Smith

Sonja Smith decided to run for the District 8 representative’s seat in the Birmingham Board of Education mainly because of her current feelings towards charter schools. After teaching in one for three years, said she has an intimate knowledge of how they operate.

“We should enhance our current schools before creating charter schools,” Smith said. “It’s not right for us to turn our backs on [Birmingham City Schools] if we have not given teachers the support they have requested or addressed parents’ concerns.”

While she has not previously held an elected municipal position, she has taught tennis to students in the district after school and in the summer through the LEFT (Learning Excellence Through Tennis) and USTA Southern. She was also a high school teacher in Chicago for six years and an adjunct at Malcolm X College.

“As a former teacher, I have classroom experience and a perspective unlike most other candidates,” she said. “My experience with school boards has been on the ‘other side,’ as an educator that never saw my board members or felt they understood classroom challenges and concerns.”

While an educator, Smith developed curriculum, provided instructional support for her peers, promoted student advocacy, served as an advisor to her Chicago high school’s first student council and class officer elections. She also co-founded GRACE, a group for freshmen girls focused on the arts, health, self-esteem and positive lifestyles, along with a student-requested after-school music club.

If elected, Smith plans to focus on three main issues: advocating for teachers and students, opening lines of communication with parents, teachers and the community and creating more transparency.

To accomplish these goals, she wants to support teachers through professional conferences and community partnerships, provide more exposure to the arts and vocational education, eliminate the health stigma hurting the community, make herself available for open communication, participate directly in school activities, keep parents aware of policy changes and address parent, teacher and community concerns with honesty and integrity.

To learn more about her campaign, visit facebook.com/votesonjasmith.

Patricia Henderson

“I decided to run for the position of school board representative in District 8 because I feel that there is a need for our children to have someone who really cares about their education and their future,” said Patricia Henderson.

Henderson described herself as a product of the Birmingham City School system, graduating from John Herbert Phillips High School in 1979 and later earning an associates degree in applied science in social work and a bachelor’s degree in criminal law. Since then, she has returned to the city school system and served in various roles including PTA president of her children’s schools, room mother, assistant cheerleader coach, safety patrol parent, bus driver and substitute teacher.

Shortly after working as a substitute teacher, Henderson worked full-time for 15 years with Jones Valley K-8 working with special needs students, where she was also a tutor and counselor and served as the Birmingham Education Association representative for Jones Valley K-8. Later she was awarded the Humanitarian Award by her coworkers.

Outside of the school system, Henderson was the secretary for the Alabama New South Coalition, the president of the Congressional District 6 and 7, the secretary of the Jefferson County Democrats Executive Board, secretary and past vice president of the Green Acres Neighborhood Association as well as the past president and vice president for the Five Points West Community.

She was also the co-chair of the Arts and Culture Board for the city, during which the organization distributed $1 million to different arts organizations that perform in the city and work with local Birmingham schools.

Currently, Henderson is the Job Readiness and GED Coordinator with the city’s municipal court, as well as the advisor for the Green Acres Neighborhood and Five Points West Community.

Henderson has not previously held an elected position but believes her almost 20 years of experience serving at city and state levels will aid her in understanding budgets, school contracts and deciphering other documents.

“I believe in transparency and honesty in any business or organization because I know the decisions I make will have an impact on people’s lives, jobs and the way they take care of their family,” she said.

If elected to the board, Henderson said her main priority is to provide each child with the best possible education they can receive. She would also like to improve technical training, workforce development and soft skills for job readiness opportunities and enhance learning environments, academic areas and availability of resources to teachers. Henderson would like to be fiscally responsible, reduce class sizes and encourage stronger parental, community and corporate involvement, as well.

“Most of all, I want to show Birmingham children our ‘greatest love’ because I truly believe they are indeed our ‘brightest future,’” she said.

To learn more about Henderson and her campaign, visit facebook.com/patricia.bozemanhenderson.7 or call at 607-2098.

Editor’s note: This is an ongoing article that will be updated as more information becomes available.