JUDSONIA — Beverly Froud has found her niche in life, and the journey she took to get there has brought her full circle to where her educational life began — in the White County Central schools. Froud has been named the district’s new elementary-school principal for the 2014-15 school year.
“I took the long way around to get where God needed me to be,” Froud said. “This is not what I had planned for my life, but when I got back here, everything just fell into place, and doors started opening.”
Froud grew up attending White County Central and met her childhood sweetheart, Chad, when both were in kindergarten there.
“We got to walk in graduation together,” Froud said. The couple married and now have two daughters. Cassidy will be a fourth-grader at Central this year, while Lauren is enrolled in preschool in the district.
“This school is my home,” Froud said. “My children are here because I want them to be. I am thrilled to be home and happy and blessed to be part of this family.”
Froud worked for both the Department of Human Services and the Cooperative Extension Service before realizing that she wanted to make the move to the classroom. Although she knew she enjoyed working with children, Froud said, there was some apprehension on her part to enter into a teaching career.
“I didn’t think I wanted to teach because I didn’t think I was equipped to do it,” she said.
After having her first daughter, though, Froud said she re-evaluated her career choice and decided that the benefits of working close to home and with a job in the classroom would be well suited to her family life. She soon took a long-term-substitute assignment at White County Central to teach family and consumer sciences that ended up working well for both parties involved. The teacher she was filling in for found a job closer to her home, and Froud stayed at Central, where one thing after another fell into place for her to obtain her new job title as elementary-school principal.
Froud’s move into an administrative role comes as White County Central embarks on a new path by enacting the Arkansas A+ program. Superintendent Sheila Whitlow thinks the timing is perfect for Froud to take on her responsibilities as principal and for the elementary school to continue to stay on the cutting edge of education.
“I have watched Mrs. Froud continually grow professionally, and this move to administration is a natural next step in her professional journey,” Whitlow said. “She is a leader, and she is passionate about what she does. She has handled this transition well and is working diligently to get acclimated to her new role. I believe the children of White County Central will benefit from her visionary outlook and her desire for excellence.”
Froud and Whitlow, along with the district’s elementary-school faculty, attended a training session for Arkansas A+ in July and came away with high hopes for how the new program can benefit
White County Central’s students. The program integrates the arts into classroom instruction to enhance curriculum.
“Infusing the arts into instruction will provide the type of instruction that many students need to keep them engaged and motivated,” Whitlow said. The program is one way that White County Central is taking what Froud described as a “proactive” approach to teaching.
White County Central Schools will start the 2014-15 school year with an open house from 5-7 p.m. today. Classes will start Monday.