lipscomb community mourns the loss of student patrice boyd
the lipscomb community is once again mourning the loss of one of its members.
kim chaudoin |
the lipscomb community is mourning the loss today of student patrice boyd, of brownsville, tennessee. boyd passed away thursday, feb. 4, of unknown causes. she was a graduate student in the educational leadership program in the college of education and part of the college’s second cohort of the tennessee transformational leadership alliance (ttla) and was scheduled to graduate in may.
boyd, age 43, was a teacher and beloved girls’ basketball coach at haywood county high school, located in brownsville, tennessee.
“patrice was such a kind person and cared deeply about her students at haywood county high school and her commitment to her graduate studies at lipscomb,” said lance forman, director of the educational leadership program. “she was recognized for her talents as a teacher, school leader, and coach and was tapped for the ttla cohort by haywood county schools district leadership to continue to build her own leadership skills. she was, truly, a hometown hero in brownsville, and she will be greatly missed by her students, peers, and faculty at lipscomb.”
a veteran educator, boyd was selected for the second cohort of lipscomb’s tennessee transformational leadership alliance (ttla). ttla was a cohort supported by a grant from the tennessee department of education to support leadership development of aspiring leaders in rural districts in the state and was supported in partnership with lipscomb and seven tennessee school systems including haywood county. forman said boyd was selected for the cohort from a pool of 100 applicants to fill one of only 20 total seats in the cohort.
a 1996 haywood high school graduate, boyd excelled on the basketball court. she began her teaching career in tennessee’s tipton county schools and lauderdale county schools but returned to haywood county as a language arts teacher at haywood middle school in 2017. in 2019, boyd moved to haywood high school as an english teacher and the coach of haywood high school lady tomcats basketball team. for the 2020-2021 school year, boyd accepted the role of work-based learning coordinator at haywood high school.
“coach boyd was not only an integral part of haywood high school; she was also a big part of haywood county schools and our community. patrice was genuine and cared deeply for the students in her care. our school community is devastated by the loss,” said joey hassell, superintendent of schools for the haywood county school district in a released statement.
with social distancing restrictions in place, services will be wednesday, february 10, at 1 p.m. at haywood high school gymnasium in brownsville. there will be a walk-through visitation wednesday from noon until time of service. in the near future there will be an opportunity for the lipscomb community to honor boyd and her family on campus. more information will be shared as plans are finalized.