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Longtime School Board Member, Education Advocate Pinson Dies

Posted on: Monday, 19 June 2006, 09:00 CDT

By Andrew Dys, The Herald, Rock Hill, S.C.

Jun. 19--Michael Pinson, a longtime Rock Hill school board member who had been a teacher and administrator earlier in his career, died Saturday. He was 61.

Pinson served 16 years on the school board through 2000. He put the needs of school students and employees at the top of his list, said Dale Dove, who served with Pinson on the school board.

"Mike was passionate about education, and he was passionate about fairness," Dove said.

Before his election to the school board, Pinson was principal at Ebenezer Avenue Elementary School and Rawlinson Road Junior High School and an assistant principal at Lesslie Elementary. He started as a teacher at Sullivan Junior High School.

After leaving teaching and school administration, Pinson worked for many years as head of continuing education at York Technical College.

Pinson put children and teaching programs first, said Phil McDaniel, former Rock Hill schools superintendent. As a board member, Pinson would vote his conscience and lose before giving in, McDaniel said.

"Mike dedicated his entire life in a serious way to education," McDaniel said. "He had followers in this community who believed in him and what he thought would make schools better."

Pinson was a board member unafraid to stand up for his convictions, yet was always a gentleman to those who had different views, said Britt Blackwell, who served on the board with Pinson.

Pinson was a committed advocate of education and children, said Rock Hill City Council member Kathy Pender, who was a school board member alongside Pinson for several years. Pinson sometimes stood in opposition to school administrators and board members in his early years on the board, Pender said.

"He always encouraged the board to listen to teachers, and in his later years on the board, he became a strong advocate for parents, teachers and administrators working together to create a strong educational opportunities for all children," Pender said.

Pinson had an uncanny ability to remember the names of people, Dove said.

"His ability to look at someone and call out their name made everybody feel important," Dove said. "An extraordinary person."

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Herald, Rock Hill, S.C.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: The Herald

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