Education

Kelly Mattox, Grants Specialist and Family Resource Center Coordinator for Prescott Unified School District (PUSD), knows her role is important in securing housing and education assistance for District families in transition.  In her position since 2016, Mattox says, “I am always about personal growth and learning, and especially about giving back. The community should know that the District helps take care of kids whose families do not have permanent housing. Through funding and donations, the District supports those who need it most.”

It has been said that small groups make some of the biggest differences in our world—and that rings true for the Prescott Unified School District Education Foundation (PUSD EF), a small but mighty force in the Prescott community.

Empowering 6th Grade Students in Math and Science By Tara Fort Role models come in the form of relatives, community advocates, and sports celebrities, but the Prescott Unified School District (PUSD) is lucky enough to have their own special group of role models at...

Enhancing, Enriching and Expanding the Opportunities at PUSD By Tara Fort With roughly 800 volunteers who have logged over 17,000 hours during the 2017-2018 school year at Prescott Unified School District (PUSD), it’s clear to see that it takes a special person with...

By Tara Fort • Photo by Trisha Shaffer Arizona Native Ellen Gershman found a rewarding career in a journey that started 20 years ago at Gilbert Public Schools (GPS).  When a friend encouraged her to apply for a secretarial position in the district, Gershman had no...

By Tara Fort • Photo by Trisha Shaffer Prescott Unified School District (PUSD) hit the jackpot when they hired two newcomers from South Dakota, proving that teaching in Prescott is not only an option for young professionals but also a wonderful choice for those...

Kelli Bradstreet knew as soon as she visited a school with Instructional Coaches that her calling had taken a new course.

For Prescott Unified School District (PUSD) Instructional Coach Lisa Hosking and Granite Mountain Math and Science Teacher Emma Gifford, the school year doesn’t just end in May. Both Hosking and Gifford are part of the summer program made possible through the Frontier Rotary/21st Century Community Learning Center Grant Program, offering summer school for K-6 grades in the district.  This year, in addition to academics, the grant has allowed the schools to add activities such as dance, sewing, teambuilding, coding and math games, plus two classes dedicated to helping students who are struggling to learn to read led by PUSD reading specialists Karen Benson and Melissa Scott.

Missy Townsend, Dean of Students / Athletic Director for Prescott High School, knows that hard work pays off.  Whether it be for herself, her staff, or her students, she knows that putting forth the effort will reap unbelievable rewards.

Terry Gorman was teaching first and second grades in Springville, Iowa in 1992, when the mother of one of her students wanted her child with special needs included in a general education classroom for social interaction.  That event proved to be an epiphany in Gorman’s teaching career. She recalls, “It was through working directly with the student and seeing the response of my first and second grade students in the classroom with him that lead to my love of special eduation. It was a very gratifying experience witnessing their opportunity to grow to love him and appreciate the gift that he had, even though they were not the same gifts a typical student would have. Right then, it made me realize, ‘Wow, I think this is my true calling.’” 

ollaboration of any kind requires time, effort and flexibility.  And, Pam Willard and Janice Yargo-Gatchell, English teachers at Prescott High School (PHS), know just how much their teaching collaboration impacts their students who take part in the Dual Enrollment program offered there. With Dual Enrollment, high school students can take a college course that will earn them credit for both the high school class and the college class. So far, the program has been successful.