ALTON - Dr. Tayna Patton works hard from the heart.
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Patton, one of the YWCA’s ten 2025 Women of Distinction, will be honored at the Y’s annual gala for her commitment to the community. As the superintendent of a St. Louis school district and a volunteer with her church and other community organizations, she believes in creating a better future for youth by building them up in the present.
“I always tell my parents that we will love and nurture our students first and then we will educate them,” she said. “I don’t believe that children learn in environments where they are not valued, and so my focus has consistently been to build those environments where children feel welcomed, they feel nurtured and loved, and then I go about educating them.”
At age 25, Patton went to school to obtain a degree in education. She started as a teacher’s assistant, then eventually became a teacher while getting her master’s degree. She soon took on the roles of assistant principal, principal, assistant superintendent, and finally her current superintendent position, and she finished her doctorate somewhere along the way.
Patton is proud of her evolution, but she is especially proud of the environment she has created for her teachers and students. She noted that it’s “heart work” to develop an atmosphere of learning and nurturing for today’s kids.
She said the YWCA Women of Distinction recognition is “an honor” because it hits so close to home. She loves what she does, and she is passionate about creating a better world for students. Education has always been her passion.
“It comes from the heart, which is why I call it heart work, because I just want the best for our students,” she explained. “I want to give them the opportunity to be successful in their life in whatever they choose to do, and I know that starts with the environments that we create within our schools. So that is my focus as a superintendent, to make sure that every building that our students enter in this district, they feel welcomed, valued, loved, and then we go about educating them.”
For other people who want to give back, Patton suggests finding an organization and starting there. She shared that she once organized a neighborhood backpack drive to help kids who needed school supplies after a New Orleans hurricane. Whether you volunteer through an organization or create your own community service initiatives, every person can do a lot for the people around them.
She added that it’s important to empower young people, and she hopes to empower young girls through the Women of Distinction recognition. Above all else, she wants to build up the next generation of leaders and community members.
“I am appreciative of the YWCA for recognizing women who are trying to do the right things within the community, whether it is within their church or within their workspace,” she said. “We are still trying to empower women, letting them know that they can do and be whatever they want to be. Their presence in a room, whether it’s a classroom or a boardroom, really makes a difference for the other women in that space or the young women or girls.”
This is the tenth in a series of articles about the ten 2025 Women of Distinction. For more information about the YWCA’s Women of Distinction Gala, visit the official YWCA Facebook page.
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