Memphis, TN, September 20, 2006: At the TAG conference held in Memphis September 7 and 8, Tennessee Initiative for Gifted Education Reform (TIGER) presented its annual Senator Curtis Person Advocacy Award to Michael Swanson, founder of Swanson Consulting (http://www.swansonconsulting.net/). “Mr. Swanson has consistently demonstrated his commitment to help ensure that high-ability students in Tennessee receive an appropriate education,” said Sally Endler, current TIGER President. “Mr. Swanson, with David Carleton, began TIGER in 2001 to protect gifted education in Tennessee and works tirelessly on behalf of our children.”
The award was created in honor of Curtis S. Person, Jr., for his child advocacy and legislative leadership supporting the vision that all Tennessee children should receive an education appropriate to their needs. Person is the Judge of the Juvenile Court of Memphis and Shelby County and served in the Tennessee Senate for over 40 years. He was the Senate sponsor of the 1972 Weldon Act, which gave Tennessee gifted students their right to a free and appropriate education. The Weldon Act predated, and served as a model for, federal special education law. Senator Person is a devoted supporter of disability and gifted education, and recently sponsored legislation creating a state-level study committee on gifted education.
TIGER and TAG work together advancing and protecting public policy at the state or local level, help create and enhance advanced academic programs, create and work to expand teacher training as well as parent information programs and work to remove barriers and increase access to appropriate learning environments.
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