Elk Valley STEM Lab named after Nancy Lay

‘We’re elected to listen to the people, and I listened’- BOE Member Jeffrey Miller

By Charlotte Underwood

JACKSBORO, TN (WLAF)- The Elk Valley Elementary Stem Lab is now going to be known as the Nancy Lay STEM Lab.

Board Chair Jeffrey Miller said he “fully supported this.”

TOP PHOTO: BOE Chair Jeffrey Miller made the motion on Tuesday to re-name the Elk Valley STEM Lab the Nancy Lay STEM Lab, saying he “fully supported it.”

“Nancy Lay has done a great job in that community and the community wants this for Ms. Lay. We’re elected to listen to the people, and I listened,” Miller said, before making the motion to approve renaming of the lab.

Board of Education member Brandon Johnson abstained, otherwise the motion was approved unanimously.

Johnson said he wanted to “elaborate” on why he abstained from voting on the motion, saying that he “had an issue naming buildings after current employees.”

He said that this in no way reflected on how he felt about Ms. Lay.

“The more that I have looked into Ms. Nancy Lay, I think she is an incredible educator, and I always knew that having a STEM designation at a school was a big deal, but I went and researched it and looked at the application and saw how big of a deal it was, I don’t think I grasped the magnitude of it. I reached out to Ms. Lay personally and had a great conversation with her and I commend her and that school. My only reason for abstaining, I have an issue with naming things after current employees. So, I just want to go on the record and say that I think very highly of Ms. Lay, her students, her faculty, her staff and her school, but that was just my principal that I stood on, so congratulations to Ms. Lay.” (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED-01/15/2025-6AM)