Mehlville Board of Education member Mike Heins recently returned home from the Missouri School Boards’ Association Leadership Summit with a new title — Advanced Board Member, according to a Mehlville School District news release.

To earn Advanced Board Member certification, Heins completed 12 additional hours of training for a cumulative total of 28 hours of school board training.

He also read two books related to boardsmanship and attended or presented at two MSBA meetings.

While attending the MSBA Leadership Summit, Heins attended workshops designed to equip school board members with the knowledge and skills they need to function as effective education leaders in their communities and as part of a statewide association.

The theme of this year’s Leadership Summit, conducted in Columbia, was “The Politics of Public Education — Lessons for Leaders.” Workshops covered a number of topics designed to help local school board members become more effective advocates for public education during this election year and beyond.

The Missouri School Boards’ Association is a private, not-for-profit organization whose purpose is to advance excellence in public education in Missouri through school board leadership.

Heins was elected to the Mehlville Board of Education in April 2003.