Serving our students and families in this pandemic school year has required MNPS administration to “step up” and “step out” of their traditional roles. Everyone is doing their part to support student success.
Dr. Carol L. Brown (formerly Carol Lampkin), MNPS Secondary Coordinator of Student and Family Support for the Schools of Innovation, is one of these stellar admins. She has added the role of Tech Support Site Lead consistently for the last year in addition to her traditional responsibilities.
The MNPS tech sites were started to support students and families during the virtual and hybrid learning 2020-2021 school year.
Brown, who answered the call for tech site volunteers, had not planned on taking a lead role.
“It happened out of necessity. I returned on my second day to find there was no lead,” said Brown. “My work ethic would not let me NOT step up. There were too many families that needed our help.”
Brown, who has enjoyed the added responsibility, shared how the tech sites are evolving to adapt to the ebbs and flows of the pandemic. Originally, the tech sites were to help students get assigned devices, obtain hotspots, and even upgrade older devices. However, the longer students remained virtual, the more the tech sites had to evolve into helpdesk services – helping families navigate the device(s), learn the apps/software, and understand how to receive those critical software updates.
“I am watching the need change again since the district went back to in-person learning,” said Brown. “We are currently discussing how to expand our support as an additional layer into the summer and upcoming school year.”
Brown, a 17-year MNPS veteran, has not missed a beat in her traditional role of supporting her 18 schools of innovation. Those supports are around attendance, climate and culture, behavior, and all non-academic leading indicators that impact or impede student growth and achievement. For the last four years she has coordinated services and supports for the schools in these areas of need.
“I am super passionate about attendance and super passionate about those non-academic indicators and how they correlate with academic success and achievement,” said Brown. “It would take a lot to move me from my current position. I am under great leadership with my executive directors and chief.”
Brown, who is originally from West Tennessee, started her educational career with MNPS despite receiving an undergraduate degree in marketing from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville and a lackluster start in the financial industry. Thankfully, she caught the attention of an MNPS administrator while she was working as a substitute at McKissack Middle School during a career transition. She was quickly offered an interim sixth grade math teaching position on an alternative license.
Brown knew she had found her passion.
Throughout her high school career, she had suppressed her desire to teach due to typical stereotypes surrounding the teaching industry. Those stereotypes were easily dismissed with her success in her role as a numeracy coach for Rose Park Middle School.
Her first year, she and her team increased students’ math scores by 30% and won the Score Award.
Brown says this was her most fulfilling role because she was working with students, teachers, and parents. Brown has also served the district in the role of assistant principal of John Early and McKissack middle schools.
Brown, a recent newlywed and mother of 11-year-old “bonus” twins who attend J.T. Moore Middle School, has made working for the district a family affair. Her new husband, Coach Anthony Brown, is a teacher and assistant football coach at Hillsboro High School.
Brown is also proud to share that her dedication to education was part of her upbringing. She is one of three sisters who have chosen education as a career path. She credits her parents.
“They instilled in me the grind that is necessary to be successful. They told me nothing will be handed to you,” said Brown. “You must work for everything. Be willing to carry your own weight and sometimes the weight of others.”
Brown has more years of service planned at MNPS because she just completed her doctorate in Education for Organizational Leadership and Strategic Change from Lipscomb University.