Focus on TUSD - March 2007

Alice Vail Counselor to Appear on PBS
Beverely Elliott, National Secondary School Counselor of the Year and former Arizona Secondary School Counselor of the Year, has accepted an invitation from the U.S. Department of Education to participate in a television program that will address ways to ensure children's educational success.

"Transforming Higher Education: Access and Affordability for All Students," a live, unscripted program, will be broadcast Tuesday, March 20, from 5-6 p.m. on KUAT Channel 6, from Washington, D.C.

Elliott, a counselor at Alice Vail Middle School, and the former Counseling Department Chair at Palo Verde High Magnet School, will offer advice for parents, teachers, and the general public.

Next month, Elliott will receive more recognition when she is honored as the 2007 Phenomenal Woman by the University of Arizona Black Alumni (UABA). The organization's annual dinner will be Friday, April 27, in the Grand Ballroom of the Student Union at the University of Arizona. A reception starts at 6 p.m., dinner follows at 7 p.m. Tickets are $75 per person.

Last year, Elliott was selected as the High School Counselor of the Year by the American School Counselor Association (ASCA). She said she is proud of the many students with whom she has interacted and helped acquire scholarships, including the Gates Millennium Scholarship, and the Arizona Dorrance Scholarship.

Elliott received her Bachelor of Science in community health education from the University of Arizona, and her master's in counseling and psychology from Prescott College.

She is the former fitness director for Canyon Ranch, and a member of the International Dance Exercise Association. She belongs to the Tucson Chapter of The Links, Inc.; "Behind the Bench," the National Basketball Wives Association; the Southern Arizona Diaper Bank; and ASCA.

Her awards and honors include the 2003 Arizona School Counselors Association High School Counselor of the Year Award; the 1999 TUSD Honor Roll for Educators Award; and the 1994 International Dance Exercise African American Role Model of the Year Award. In 2000, she received a grant from the Rocky Mountain Association of College Admissions Counselors.

TUSD - Proud Supporter of Small Classes

Unless otherwise noted, all photos in the March issue by Jes Ruvalcaba of Communications & Media Relations.

The deadline to submit material for the April Focus is Friday, April 6. The Focus will be published Friday, April 13. Email submissions to Chyrl Hill Lander or Sharon Dunham in the Communications & Media Relations Department or use the Focus Online Submission Form.