Three from Hamilton County Schools are presented A.F. Bridges Awards by TSSAA
Posted on 11/11/2019
Image of three hamilton county school officials receiving their A.F. Bridges Awards by TSSAA.Angela Cass, principal of Ooltewah High, Mandi Munn, athletic director at Red Bank High, and Dr. Bryan Johnson, superintendent of Hamilton County Schools, are winners from District 3 in the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association’s (TSSAA) A.F. Bridges Awards for 2019. The awards presentation was the 20th year that TSSAA has recognized what is best in high school athletics by presenting the Bridges Awards. Dr. Bryan Johnson won the School System Administrator award, Angela Cass took the Principal of the Year award, and Mandi Munn, the Athletic Director of the Year award for District 3.

“The A.F. Bridges Award reflects positively on the values we share as a school and community in the Owl Nation at Ooltewah High School,” said Angela Cass. “We are working to provide academic and athletic opportunities that will help our graduates succeed after graduation while exhibiting integrity, ethics, and determination that sportsmanship encourages in our students.”

TSSAA honored 63 individuals from across the state in the annual recognition. TSSAA gives awards in seven categories from each of the nine athletic districts in Tennessee. Additional categories included Female Coach of the Year, Male Coach of the Year, Official of the Year, and Contributor of the Year.

A Citizenship/Sportsmanship Committee and member schools in each athletic district in the state provide nominations for the awards. The TSSAA State Selection Committee makes the final selection of winners.

The A.F. Bridges Awards honor the TSSAA’s first executive secretary. Bridges served as executive secretary from 1946 until he retired in 1972. He was a person of high principles who displayed firmness and fairness, as well as the high ideals of ethics and integrity, as he worked to establish the foundation of TSSAA in Tennessee. He was a coach, teacher, administrator, school superintendent, and football official during his professional career.

The TSSAA Regional Meeting at Hardin Valley Academy was the site of the awards presentation for East Tennessee.

Photo: Left to Right – Dr. Bryan Johnson, superintendent, Hamilton County Schools; Angela Cass, principal, Ooltewah High School; and Mandi Munn, athletic director, Red Bank High