Timbs named state’s first Director of Instructional Leadership Support

By Billy Ward
Dr. David Timbs’ influence stretches from Mountain City to Memphis. A former English teacher at Johnson County High School, he is the state’s first Executive Director of Instructional Leadership Support. Educators, administrators, and students across Tennessee will soon benefit from his drive and passion for learning.
Timbs began his career in 1993 teaching journalism and English at JCHS. The King College, now King University, graduate was also a student earning a Master’s Degree from Milligan College in 1994. In 1995, he taught the county’s first Advanced Placement (AP) English course for high school seniors. Later, the course evolved into a dual enrollment program allowing students to earn college credit while still in high school. These classes provided students a taste of college level work as well as in-depth dialogue on important works of literature and current events. Timbs encouraged students to think for themselves and develop the ability to support their position. “You can’t straddle the fence or you’ll hurt yourself,” he says. “I challenged the students and they in turn challenged one another.” Keeping students engaged as active learners, he prepared them not only for the challenges they faced in college but their role as citizens of the global community.
Timbs loves teaching, but he also loves to “find a new challenge and teach myself something new.” In 2001 he accepted a position at Johnson County Central Office as the K-12 Supervisor of Instruction. He worked diligently with each county school and its respective teachers and administrators providing the best possible education for the county’s approximately 2,300 students. During this time he was also working towards his PhD focusing on lifetime learning. He completed in 2003 with a dissertation entitled “Learning for a Lifetime: The Educational Biography of Evelyn McQueen Cook.”
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