Photo: Patrick Hampton
Published July 7, 2021
Ooltewah, TN – Education activist and minister Patrick Hampton has announced his bid for the District 9 seat of the Hamilton County School Board. Hampton, an Ooltewah resident, has spent the better part of his career engaging the community through educational activism and youth development. His mission: to enhance the lives of Hamilton County students through transparency, choice and compassion.
As the director of youth employment services at Chattanooga Goodwill Industries, Hampton supervised mentorship programs and taught vital career development skills including resume writing, career planning and job searching.
In 2013, Hampton announced his run for school board in District 5. His loss led him to rededicate his commitment to youth development. In 2015, he became the director of after school programming with Chattanooga LINKS, where he recruited certified educators across Hamilton County to facilitate college preparation programs. He also worked as a long-term substitute history teacher with Ivy Academy Charter School.
Later, Hampton was named Dean of Students at Chattanooga Charter School of Excellence, and from 2016 through 2018, oversaw day-to-day disciplinary procedures and policies, attendance, classroom management and parent workshops. In 2018, he became Vice President of Community Engagement with Hamilton Flourishing, a local think-tank committed to public awareness campaigns surrounding local education and civic issues.
Hampton currently serves as regional director of The Access Academy, an organization with a mission to empower students with disabilities with workforce skills that encourage sustainable employment after high school.
Hampton graduated from Tyner Academy and received his ministry designation from Covington Theological Seminary and Belhaven University. He and his wife, Sherinda, grew up together and attended school in the Eastdale and Brainerd communities. Together they have four boys – two attending Hamilton County Schools and two attending Baylor School.
An advocate for school choice with experience in public, charter and private schools, Hampton encourages other parents to partner with an education program that is best for their child.
