Former school board leader, 80, dies
By From staff reports
Published in News on July 12, 2015 1:50 AM
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Shirley Sims
RALEIGH -- The first minority female to serve as chairman of the Wayne County Board of Education -- a woman who devoted nearly her entire life to the communities in which she lived -- died Saturday at Rex Healthcare Center in Raleigh.
Long before her 18-year stint on the BOE began, Shirley Sims was an educator -- first, as a teacher at Dudley Elementary School and later as assistant principal at Rosewood School, which was, at the time, a K-12 school.
She spent 14 years as a classroom teacher and 16 years in administration, including serving as director of Title I programs and special programs for the county.
She retired from the district in 1986, but could not separate herself from the world of education. She worked, first, as a part-time instructor, educational specialist and coordinator of a literacy program for the homeless at Wayne Community College and ultimately won a seat on the school board.
In 2006, Mrs. Sims became the first minority female to serve as chairman of the board and four years later, stepped down to retire to Garner.
The Mount Olive native graduated from Carver High School and pursued her own education at Livingstone College and Winston-Salem State University, before earning a master's degree in elementary education from North Carolina A&T State University.
She received the prestigious Raleigh Dingman Award from the N.C. School Board Association in 2002. Other accomplishments include All-State School Board Award in 1999, Woman of the Year for Southern Wayne County in 1997 and the Winston-Salem State University Alumni Meritorious Award in 1994.
A funeral service for Mrs. Sims will be held Wednesday.