The Museums of Tusculum College have two new staff members to help with educational efforts, Dollie Boyd and Darlene McCleish.
Leah Walker, who joined the museum staff last year, has been promoted to site and events manager.
Dollie Boyd has joined the Museums of Tusculum College as manager of school programs. She will be responsible for the development and implementation of on-site and outreach curriculum-based school programs offered through the Doak House Museum. The museum offers a variety of educational programs throughout the academic year for school groups and home-schooled children. It hosts thousands of children annually.
A native of Sewanee, Tenn., Boyd taught grades 9-12 from 1994 to 2007, served as a graduate research assistant at the Albert Gore Research Center and was an interpretive ranger at Tims Ford State Park. She earned her bachelor’s degree in speech and theater with minors in education and history from Middle Tennessee State University and is a candidate for her master’s degree in history/public history from MTSU. Boyd has also made several professional presentations including to the National Council of Public History and Phi Alpha Theta Regional Conference.
Darlene McCleish has joined the museum staff as National History Day resource coordinator. She will provide assistance to teachers and students working on National History Day projects by providing classroom instructional aid, one-on-one guidance and/or helping to insure they have resources to develop successful projects and activities.
McCleish recently retired after 30 years of teaching in the Greene County School System. She has received several professional recognitions including Greene County Teacher of the Year Grades K-4 in 1999, 2002 and 2004. Most recently she served as the Battle of Blue Springs Education Day coordinator and co-authored the teacher’s guide.
This new part-time position is funded through grants from the Andrew Johnson Heritage Association and the Niswonger Foundation.
The Department of Museum Program and Studies has coordinated the regional National History Day for the past several years and has provided support to participating schools throughout the school year. The program helped start the local events at Mosheim Elementary School. Students from Mosheim Middle and Chuckey-Doak Middle have advanced to the national event. The Andrew Johnson Heritage Association has provided financial support for the National History Day events and provided aid for student travel as they have advanced through the levels of competition.
Leah Walker has accepted a new assignment as site and events manager at the Doak House Museum. In this role, she is responsible for the day-to-day operation of the museum, special programs such as “Lessons from the Lawn,” and partnership programs with the International Storytelling Center and Greene County Partnership.
In addition, Walker will oversee the Girl and Boy Scout programs, the museum’s Volunteer Program and operation of the museum shop. She will also undertake investigation and development of new group programming opportunities.
A graduate of Tusculum’s baccalaureate museum studies program, Walker returned to her alma mater last August as museum educator, responsible for an array of school programming and camps during a period of transition. She earned her master’s degree in storytelling from East Tennessee State University and spent a year with the National Park Service in Death Valley, Calif., where she was involved in site operations and interpretation of Scotty’s Castle.
To reach any of these staff members, please call the Doak House Museum at 423-636-8554. They can also be reached by e-mail, Boyd at dboyd@tusculum.edu, McCleish at mcleishd@gmail.com and Walker at lwalker@tusculum.edu.
The Museums of Tusculum College administer the President Andrew Johnson Museum and Library and the Doak House Museum on campus. The Doak House Museum, the 19th century home of the Rev. Samuel Witherspoon Doak, co-founder of Tusculum College, hosts thousands of school children from the region for a variety of educational programs related to the 19th century and CHARACTER COUNTS! The President Andrew Johnson Museum and Library houses a special collection of items relating to the 17th president, the college’s archives and volumes from the institution’s original library.
The museums are also two of the 10 structures on the Tusculum campus on the National Register of Historic Places. The museum department also offers one of the few undergraduate degree programs in museum studies in the country.