A house RESOLUTION

 

to express deepest appreciation to Tom F. Hudson, Executive Director of the South Carolina Education Association, for his exemplary service to the South Carolina School Improvement Council and to wish him continued success and happiness.

 

Whereas, the South Carolina House of Representatives has learned that Tom F. Hudson provided outstanding service to the South Carolina School Improvement Council (SIC) for seventeen years, the last ten of which were as its highly regarded executive director; and

 

Whereas, in 1983, Mr. Hudson earned a bachelor's degree in philosophy and religion from Maryville College       in Maryville, Tennessee, and after serving in numerous journalistic capacities, including Hudson Communications, he served as the public information officer with the South Carolina Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services from 1987 to 1995; and

 

Whereas, he served as an advertising account representative with BellSouth Corporation in Columbia from 1995 to 2003 and then as the public information officer for the Beaufort County School District from 2003 to 2007; and

 

Whereas, from 2005 to 2007, Mr. Hudson served as a member of the South Carolina SIC Board of Trustees before he began his service with the South Carolina SIC in 2007, becoming the executive director in 2014. During those years, he served as the state coordinator of the South Carolina Education Policy Fellowship Program and as the co-director of the Carolina Family Engagement Center. In 2024, he became the executive director of the South Carolina Education Association; and

 

Whereas, Mr. Hudson was honored to receive fellowships with the South Carolina Diversity Leaders Initiative in 2010 at the Riley Institute at Furman University and in 2012 with the South Carolina Education Policy Fellowship Program, Institute for Educational Leadership; and

 

Whereas, he served his profession as a past president and as a member of the South Carolina Chapter of the National School Public Relations Association since 2004, a member of the University of South Carolina College of Education Organizational Review Committee from 2022 to 2024, and board president and vice president of the Social Emotional Learning Alliance of South Carolina from 2020 to 2024; and

 

Whereas, Mr. Hudson also served as a Teacher of the Year reviewer for several school districts from 2016 through 2024, an award reviewer for the South Carolina Education Oversight Committee Data Trailblazer Awards in 2024, a member of the South Carolina State Board of Education Accreditation Task Force in 2017 and 2021, an advisory board member of the Southeast Comprehensive Center of the American Institutes for Research from 2017 to 2019, a member of the State Superintendent of Education's School Safety Task Force from 2015 to 2016, a member of the Communications Advisory Team's TransformSC initiative of South Carolina Council on Competitiveness from 2013 to 2015, a member of South Carolina Friends of Education from 2007 to 2014 and as its co-chair from 2010 to 2012, and as a member of the South Carolina Department of Education Leadership Team for Research Based School-Wide Practices in 2008; and

 

Whereas, in his busy schedule, Mr. Hudson has shown devotion to his community in a myriad of activities, including serving as a federal appointee on the United States Selective Service System Board for Richland County since 2015, a member and elder of New Kirk Presbyterian Church in Blythewood since 2008, a member and past master of the Dentsville Lodge #398 A.F.M. since 1994, and a member of the Blythewood High School Improvement Council from 2010 to 2012; and

 

Whereas, the South Carolina House of Representatives values the excellent leadership contributions of Tom Hudson to education in the Palmetto State. Now, therefore,

 

Be it resolved by the House of Representatives:

 

That the members of the South Carolina House of Representatives, by this resolution, express deepest appreciation to Tom F. Hudson for his exemplary service to the South Carolina School Improvement Council and wish him continued success and happiness.

 

Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be presented to Tom F. Hudson.

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