Local educator receives $10,000 scholarshp

Pamela Pruett has received The Dr. Evelyn Milam Scholarship 2 from The Delta Kappa Gamma Society International. The honor society for women educators promotes excellence in education and personal and professional growth of women educators, leading in the field of graduate scholarships given to members and emphasizing leadership development for its more than 90,000 members in 18 countries. A member and current President of the Society's Zeta Chapter in Arkansas, Pruett is attending Union University, Jackson, Tennessee, where she is majoring in Educational Leadership with an emphasis in Higher Education.

Dr. Joye Sterrett of Arizona, International Scholarship Committee chairman, announced the recipients following the committee's recent meeting at Society Headquarters in Austin, Texas. "We granted 24 scholarships of $10,000 each for the 2013-2014 academic year," Sterrett said. Recipients must have earned a Bachelor's Degree, be enrolled in a recognized graduate program and have been a Society member for at least three years to qualify for scholarship consideration. Since its scholarship program began in 1940, The Delta Kappa Gamma Society International has given 1043 women educators $4 million in scholarships.

In addition to the international scholarships, many state organizations and local chapters have scholarship funds to assist members pursuing graduate study. In 2012 all three levels of the Society provided approximately $466,075.54 in scholarships for members.

The honor organization of key women educators was formed in Austin, Texas, on May 11, 1929, by Dr. Annie Webb Blanton from a nucleus of 12 founders representing all levels of education, kindergarten through university, from various parts of Texas. Professor of rural education at the University of Texas, Dr. Blanton was elected president of the Texas State Teachers' Association in 1916, the first woman to hold the office. Blanton was also the first woman to serve Texas as State Superintendent of Public Instruction, having been elected to that post in 1918.

Pruett works for the University of Arkansas, Division of Agriculture, Cooperative Extension Service, as a Cooperative Extension Agent-Family and Consumer Sciences. She resides in Blytheville and is married to Ken Pruett.