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Venable seeks election to District 5 on Anderson County Board of Education
The Oak Ridger
Theresa Evans Venable, of Clinton, has announced that she is a candidate for the District 5 seat on the Anderson County School Board. With 30 years of experience as a teacher in elementary and middle schools and involvement in two nationally known libraries, Venable brings a wealth of experience in educational issues, according to the news release announcing her candidacy.
“I think that I would offer a unique perspective as a school board member,” she said. “I’ve been a teacher, and I’ve had two children in the school system, so I bring that perspective as a parent and also as someone involved in the day-to-day operation of a school.”
Among her important roles in teaching each day was listening to parents and hearing what they believe is important in their child’s education, she added.
“I want to offer that perspective and that openness to parents to help the school board find effective solutions for issues and concerns placed before the board,” Venable said. She will be on the Democratic Party ballot in the March 5 primary election. Early voting will be Feb. 14-27.
Her teaching career began at Elm Grove Elementary and Cedar Hill Elementary School in Oak Ridge, where she taught for six years. She operated a state-licensed day care center after that, and then taught sixth grade for four years at Norris Elementary School in the Anderson County school district.
Venable then taught fifth and sixth grades for 20 years at Jefferson Middle School in Oak Ridge, retiring in 2006. After that, and after volunteering with the Children’s Defense Fund at Alex Haley Farm in Clinton, she became librarian at the Langston Hughes Library and programs coordinator for the Children’s Defense Fund, a national nonprofit focused on well-being and racial justice for children and youth. She retired from CDF in 2022, after nearly 17 years there.
Venable now serves on the Blue Ribbon Book Selection Committee of the Dolly Parton Imagination Library, which provides books to an international community. The Imagination Library mails books monthly to children from birth to age 5 at no cost to families.
Venable participates in reviewing and selecting age-appropriate children’s books for the program based in Sevierville and funded by Parton and community partners in the U.S., Canada, United Kingdom, Australia and Ireland.
Venable has also served on the Anderson County Library Board and the boards of Girls Inc. of the Tennessee Valley and Clinch River Home Health. She was a member of the Pre-K Council of Anderson County and has volunteered with ASAP of Anderson County, a substance abuse prevention program. She is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority.
The Women’s Political Alliance of Tennessee chose Venable as a recipient of its 2015 award for leadership in child advocacy. She was also selected as the 2011 recipient of the Zora Neale Hurston Award, an annual recognition given by the Reference and Users Association (RUSA) of the American Library Association to the librarian who has actively promoted African American literature.
Venable holds a B.S. degree in elementary education and the M.S. degree in information sciences from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She and her husband Dennis have two adult children, and they are the proud grandparents of two grandchildren.