Lisa Toland has announced she is seeking election for Newberry City Council, District Three seat.
NEWBERRY — Educator Lisa Toland has announced she is seeking election for the Newberry City Council, District Three seat.
Toland is the daughter of the late Deacon and Deaconess J.D. and Eliza Toland. She has two sisters, Jessica Toland and Zenda, spouse of Roy McClurkin.
Toland is a 1983 graduate of Newberry High School. She received her B.A. degree from Winthrop University in political science with a minor in history. She later attended the University of Georgia where she received a Master’s degree in political science with an emphasis in American politics. She also earned a certificate in Higher Education Leadership from the University of South Carolina.
Her first teaching experience was at Lander University, teaching a course in American Government. She was hired as a full-time instructor at Piedmont Technical College and served as department head of Social Sciences, Off-Campus Program coordinator for the Arts and Sciences Division, and as associate dean of Arts and Sciences. She is currently the dean of Off-Campus Academic Affairs, housed at the Newberry Campus.
Toland is a member of Renwick Grove Baptist Church where she serves as the Sunday School superintendent, the adult Sunday School class teacher, a member of the usher ministry, the Safety Committee and the Executive Board. She is the treasurer of the New Enoree Baptist Educational and Missionary Association and serves as the chairperson of the Black History and Founders’ Day Program and Committee. She is a life member and past president of the Pi Beta Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.
She has been actively involved in several aspects within the community, including Leadership Newberry, The NAACP, Newberry County Citizen’s Police Academy, the Newberry County Capital Project Sales Tax Commission 2009, 2015, the Newberry Census Complete Count Committee, and the former poll manager of Ward Four (Newberry County Voter Registration).
Toland is the past Faculty Senate president at PTC, the first Visionary Award recipient for Teaching Excellence at PTC, PTC Presidential Medallion recipient, recipient of the Sara R. Simmons Community Service Award for Pi Beta Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.
Toland’s hobbies include traveling, reading, walking, shopping with her sisters, and watching her two favorite TV shows: “Jeopardy” and “Days of Our Lives.”
Out of all of the things Toland is involved she knows that none would be possible without God, but she says the most rewarding is working with children and young people; helping and watching them learn.