Experience

Patty Hightower currently serves as a member of the Escambia County School Board.  She was elected to the School Board by the voters of District 4 in 2004, defeating the incumbent and two challengers without a runoff, and she was reelected in 2004.  She has completed the training to be certified by the Florida School Board Association, and in June 2011, she was elected as vice president of the Florida School Board Association.

Patty received her BS and MA degrees from the University of Alabama. She has taught at all levels from elementary school through college in Alabama, Texas, and Georgia before moving to Pensacola in 1972.

She currently serves as the school board representative on the Escambia County Planning Board and serves on the Pensacola First Books Board. She serves as vice chair of the Florida School Labor Relations Service.

Patty was elected in 2011 as the Vice President of the Florida School Board Association. Her additional duties include serving as the chair of the Bylaws Committee, serving on the Advocacy Committee, the Finance Committee, and the Florida Learning First Alliance, the Advocacy Committee, the Federal Relations Committee, the Florida Learning First Alliance, and as vice chair of the Legislative Committee.

Before becoming a school board member, Patty served as Program Coordinator of the Take Stock in Children Scholarship Program. She continues to mentor students in the program each week and to serve as a member of the Take Stock in Children Leadership Council. She is a member of the national 100 District Leaders for Civic Learning Commission as one of two Florida representatives.

 

Personal Life

She is married to Jim Hightower, an attorney and professor at Pensacola State College, and she and Jim have two sons. Andy, who lives in Lexington, Kentucky, is married to Lauren Thompson Hightower. He serves as the executive director of the Kentucky Club for Growth. Patrick, an attorney, is an instructor at North Georgia College and University in Dahlonega, Georgia, is married to Victoria Penziner Hightower.

Both sons attended Escambia County public schools and are graduates of the International Baccalaureate Program at Pensacola High School.