SIC Advocate of the Year Award
SC-SIC Recognizes the Hon. Robert Q. Williams as
SIC Advocate of the Year
Each year, the SC-SIC Board chooses to recognize someone who has gone above and beyond the call to advocate for school improvement councils in their community of influence. We are pleased to present SC House Rep. Robert Q. Williams with this year’s SIC Advocate of the Year Award.
Rep. Williams accepts the SIC Advocate of the Year Award at the March 8, 2008 conference
The Honorable Robert Q. Williams, who represents Darlington and Florence counties in the SC House, actively supports school improvement councils on the local and state levels. He has served on the Darlington High School Improvement Council and is deeply committed to involving parents and community members in public education. After learning that the SC-SIC Board of Trustees had no representative from the Pee Dee area, he called SC-SIC Executive Director Cassie Barber to find out why not! She explained that previous Board members hailing from that area had been forced to resign due to health reasons and work commitments and no suitable candidate had been found to replace them. Representative Williams promised to find an excellent candidate to serve on the Board and indeed he did. Ms. Retha Ross was appointed to the Board last year and has already arranged for a district-wide SIC training and made personal visits to the schools in her area on behalf of SC-SIC. Representative Williams drove straight from the statehouse to attend the Darlington County SIC training and gave words of inspiration and encouragement to the particpants that evening. He sponsored a concurrent resolution in the General Assembly to recognize the 30th anniversary of SICs in South Carolina and honor all the school improvement council members who work to improve public education every day.
A native of Darlington, Representative Williams is a former support services administrator with the S.C. Department of Disabilities and Special Needs, and has also served an addictions counselor with Correctional Medical Services. From 1999 to 2003, he was director of Telamon Corporation's Fatherhood Program, and from 2003 to the present has served as executive director of that corporation's Fatherhood and Families Engagement Program.
Representative Williams has served on the boards of several organizations, including the S.C. Network for Fathers and Families, Darlington County First Steps and Round O Missionary Baptist Church. He is former president of both the Florence County Mental Health Association and the Darlington County Coordinating Council, and has been a member of the National Mental Health Prevention and Children's Mental Health Services Commission; the Alston Wilkes Society Advisory Council; the National Practitioners for Fathers and Families; Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity; and the Tifton Community Association. He has also served as a coach with the Darlington County Recreation Department.
He has received numerous awards for his professional and community service, including the Round O Missionary Baptist Church Man of the Year Award, 2001; Florence Chamber of Commerce Humanitarian Award, 2002; S.C. Fatherhood Practitioners Network Trailblazer Award, 2003; and the S.C. Department of Corrections Certificate of Recognition, 2004.
A member of the S.C. Army National Guard, Representative Williams is a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, having served in Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2005. He is the recipient of two Army Achievement Medals and the Army Commendation Medal.
Representative Williams holds the Bachelor of Science degree from Voorhees College and the Master of Public Administration degree from Troy State University. He and his wife, Janice, have three children - Jacobie, Rodrick and Jarell.
Congratulations to our 2008 SIC Advocate of the Year, the Hon. Robert Q. Williams!
Press Release Conference Advisory March 3, 2008