Mrs. Shirley Smith has been a citizen of Catoosa County since 1972. She was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Ms. Smith attended Marion County High School in Jasper, TN where she met her late husband, Wesley Smith, CEO of Northwest Georgia Bank. Mrs. Smith will tell you her greatest achievement is being the mother of Todd, Scott, and Krista, being Gramms to six wonderful grandchildren: Colton, Carter, Samuel, GraceAnn, Wesley, and Emerson, and the mother in love to Melanie, Heather, and Jason. Mrs. Smith attended early education classes at Samford University in Alabama for the four-year Kindergarten at First Baptist Church of Ringgold where she taught for eight years. Ms. Smith is currently a member of The Gathering Church in Ringgold. Ms. Smith served on the committee that created Catoosa County’s first Zoning Ordinance. She also served on the Catoosa County Planning Commission for five years and served as chairman the last year. Since 1995, Ms. Smith has been on the taskforce for Catoosa Citizens for Literacy and has served as executive director since 1996. The mission of Mrs. Smith and the Catoosa Citizens for Literacy is to help citizens through literacy become productive contributors to our community and provide existing and future employers of Catoosa County with a literate, productive workforce. Mrs. Smith has served on the Board of Directors for the Technical College System of Georgia since 2012. She was recently appointed to the CLCP Professional Association Board.

Awards Received:

• Liberty Bell Award – Presented by Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit Bar Association
• Jean Harris Award – Presented by Ringgold Rotary
• Ambassador of the Year Award – Catoosa County Chamber of Commerce
• Citizen of the Year Award – Catoosa County Chamber of Commerce
• 2007 Georgia Press Association Award
• 2010 Distinguished Service Award – Fort Oglethorpe Kiwanis

Catoosa Citizens for Literacy is located in The Learning Center at 36 Muscogee Trail, Ringgold, GA 30736