The Hamblen County Foundation for Educational Excellence and Achievement, (HC*EXCELL),

was founded in 1991 to promote educational excellence and achievement. The Foundation has
evolved from the funding of scholarships and small teacher grants to assisting in systemic
educational change directed at developing high school graduates who have skills to succeed in
post-secondary education, work and life.

The goal of HC*EXCELLs previous Cradle through Career campaign was to align
academic achievement with workforce needs and skills. Hamblen County has made tremendous
progress in a school system that consists of 70% free and reduced lunch students by developing a
workforce community partnership across county lines to focus on: increasing the number of
student and teacher internships; and raising the awareness of the importance of preschool
readiness and the arts in elementary schools. Although the aforementioned steps are positive,
they require nurturing.

As a foundation we have learned that many of our children enter kindergarten unprepared for
success; are deficient in critical thinking/problem solving skills to transition K-12 successfully;
lack motivation and skills for workforce and post-secondary opportunities; and that our teachers
and educators feel they are being asked to teach students life skills in addition to educational
subject matter while being under-appreciated.

HC*EXCELLs new five year program of work, SUCCESS, is formatted to address these
challenges. SUCCESS is a 1.3 million dollar campaign to continue our efforts in promoting
educational excellence and achievement as a means of sustaining and growing economic
prosperity to improve the quality of life in Hamblen County and the Lakeway Region.

The SUCCESS initiative consists of five elements:

Ready by 6: the creation and implementation of a strategic model to increase the number of
children entering kindergarten prepared to learn;

Arts Build Skills: initiative to broaden rural students critical thinking and problem solving
skills;

Workforce and Leadership: establish opportunities to better align and implement academic
instruction with real life skills;
Student Higher Education: programming to ensure improved preparation, access and
completion of post-secondary educational options; and

Herbert S. Walters Educator Fund: support for teacher professional development, recognition
and appreciation.

HC*EXCELL, P.O. Box 2156, Morristown, TN 37816-2156 (423) 581-5334, www.hcexcell.org