James Sparkman is an 8^th Grade Social Studies Teacher and Assistant Baseball Coach at Moore County Middle/High School in Lynchburg, Tennessee. He started his education career at Tullahoma High School teaching world history. James earned his Master of Education in Curriculum & Instructional/Educational Leadership from Middle Tennessee State University in 2018 and completed his Specialist in Education degree at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville in 2025.

“The University of Tennessee Specialist in Education program provided me the opportunity to enhance my professional career while working alongside a fantastic cohort. It also afforded me the opportunity to continue to work fulltime without sacrificing any of my extracurricular responsibilities as an educational leader. In fact, the flexibility of the program and the professors allowed me to improve in the occupational tasks I was already doing, and to progressively add more leadership qualifications.  A great experience!  It’s Great to be a Tennessee Volunteer! “