El Dorado School District Assistant Superintendent Melissa Powell was recently recognized for her contributions to education in south Arkansas with induction into Southern Arkansas University's Educational Leadership Hall of Fame.
Superintendent Jim Tucker announced the honor during this month's meeting of the El Dorado School Board.
"That's a pretty big honor, a pretty big award, and I wanted to highlight that so you could see it, because we're proud of the achievement," he said.
He showed board members a video highlighting some of Powell's accomplishments, which include spearheading a partnership between the district and SAU to give college students studying education on-the-job classroom experience on El Dorado campuses, finding new ways to recruit and retain teaching staff and helping lead the district through the COVID-19 pandemic.
Prior to being named assistant superintendent, Powell served as a counselor at Yocum, assistant principal at Hugh Goodwin and principal at Northwest and Yocum. She earned her bachelor's degree from Henderson Sate University, before getting her master's in counseling from SAU, where she has also since earned Administrator's and Superintendent's certifications.
"Southern Arkansas University has been an important part of continuing my education," Powell said. "Being recognized by those who have had such a huge impact on my professional development, as well as personal growth, is an amazing honor that I will cherish forever!"
In the video Tucker showed, Powell says that she considers developing teachers into leaders as her greatest accomplishment.
"I don't think it's anything magic that I did, but I think I've helped create opportunities for them to lead," she said. "You're only as good as the people around you, so make those people look good."