Becky Alexander MTSU Shelia Bratton Rutherford County Schools Gretchen Campbell Murfreesboro City Schools Janet Camp Community Volunteer Elizabeth Church Rutherford County Schools Candy Clifford Murfreesboro City Schools Etta Crittenden Echell Eady Intern Management Systems Linda Gilbert Director of Murfreesboro City Schools Laurie Glenn Community Volunteer Lanny Goodwin Murfreesboro Parks and Recreation Rachel Harrell Childcare Resource and Referral Network Cheryl Harris Murfreesboro City Schools Carlene Hurst Community Volunteer Andrew Jacks YEAH Angela Jackson Murfreesboro Parks & Recreation Laura Beth Jackson Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce Business Education and Partnership Becky Johnson Murfreesboro Parks and Recreation Connie Jones MTSU Glenda Kelly State Farm Amy Maynard Community Volunteer Lisa Mitchell Executive Director, Read To Succeed Stacy Nunnally Stacy Nunnally Consulting (non-profit and social media) Sarah Porterfield Read To Succeed Americorp Vista RTS Program Coordinator Martin McCullough Community Volunteer William Pippen YMCA Jennifer McGrew Community Volunteer Rachel Nelson Community Volunteer Patsy Noland Murfreesboro Housing Authority Whitney Patterson State Farm Sandra Pineault Community Volunteer Linda Prichard Rutherford County Schools Rita Shacklett Linebaugh Library Cliff Sharp Greenhouse Ministries Jennifer Smith United Way - Success By 6 Kim Snell Rutherford County Schools Shelly Stanley Read To Succeed AmeriCorp Vista Adult Literacy & Program Coordinator  Marisela Tapia Murfreesboro City Schools Sergeant Greg Walker Murfreesboro Police Department Leslie Walker Murfreesboro City Schools Scott Walker WGNS Tammy Walker Read To Succeed Administrative & Technical Assistant Read To Succeed is supported by the Rebecca and Jennings A. Jones Foundation. Jennings A. Jones was born in 1909 in Del Rio, Tennessee, a small community near Newport in Cocke County. Rebecca Jones is a native of Murfreesboro. Her family has lived in Rutherford County for generations (her great-grandfather was a medical officer in the Civil War). After graduating from high school at age sixteen, Mr. Jones pursued study in electrical engineering at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, graduating in 1931. He and his wife, Rebecca, met in January, 1937 and were married that June 3rd . After working as an electrical engineer with the Tennessee Electrical Power, first in Cleveland, and later in Murfreesboro, the budding entrepreneur opened Jones Locker and Cold Storage in 1939. In 1941, he was called to active duty in the Army and eventually attained the rank of lieutenant colonel. In 1946, Jones became chair of the Murfreesboro Planning Commission and served until 1950. In 1948, Governor Gordon Browning appointed him to the Tennessee State Planning Commission, a body he would later chair. From 1950-1954, Mr. Jones served as the mayor of Murfreesboro. He was the visionary behind several roadway additions in Murfreesboro. "Good planning will save a city millions and millions of dollars," he once said. Mr. Jones was also influential in the development of Mitchell-Neilson Primary and Elementary Schools (which are separated, not coincidentally, by Jones Boulevard) as well as Hobgood, Bradley and Bellwood schools. While raising four children, Mrs. Jones became active in gardening and neighborhood beautification projects. She planted flowers and shrubs and arranged for trees to be planted. Many of these trees that were planted during these projects are still standing and flourishing. About ten years ago, the couple founded the Jennings and Rebecca Jones Foundation to help others, especially the children in Rutherford County. The idea of computers in the classroom was new and they donated one computer to four local schools. Mr. Jones got involved in helping the one-room country school he had attended in Del Rio (in the Appalachian Mountains) by donating money for a long-distance learning center and library. When McFadden Elementary School established a magnet program with emphasis on Communication Arts through Technology, the Joneses gave a $50,000 donation to install a high-tech broadcasting lab. The Foundation helped to create Discovery Center at Murfree Spring, a hands on museum and environmental center in downtown Murfreesboro. The couple has also funded a business academy called Corporate Connections. The objective of the Academy is to assist K-12 educators learn more about the business community in order to help students be better prepared for the workplace. Jennings A. Jones' financial support over the years to Middle Tennessee State University has made possible the Jennings A. Jones Chair of Excellence in Free Enterprise and the Jennings and Rebecca Jones Chair of Excellence in Urban and Regional Planning. Their continued support is reflected in the establishment of the Jennings and Rebecca Jones Foundation Academy for Teachers of Gifted Students. Also at MTSU is the Center for Economic Education (CEE) that is funded through the generosity of Mr. and Mrs. Jones. The mission of the CEE is to support the efforts of K-12 teachers to improve the quality of economics instruction and learning by conducting workshops and providing (free) curriculum programs and materials. Former MTSU president James Walker stated about Mr. And Mrs. Jones, "Beyond MTSU, their investment in education has quite literally raised the bar on the quality of life for thousands of children, young individuals and older citizens who have lived and worked right here at home in middle Tennessee. Imagine how many lives these middle Tennesseans have, in turn, touched across the globe and across generations." excerpts from Daily News Journal, May 7, 1999 and April 15, 2001