FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: APRIL 25, 2001

LAVERNE GRAYSON TO RECEIVE
NORTHARK ALUMNI AWARD

    Boone County Judge LaVerne Grayson will receive North Arkansas College's 2001 Distinguished Alumnus Award in recognition of her service to the college as a trustee and advocate over the years.  Jim Sprott, chairman of the North Arkansas College Board of Trustees, will make the presentation Saturday, May 12, at 10 a.m. during North Arkansas College's Commencement exercises and Dedication of the Bill Baker Amphitheatre.

    A graduate of both Twin Lakes Vocational-Technical School and North Arkansas Community College, the two institutions that combined in 1993 to former North Arkansas College, Grayson was elected this past November as the first female county judge in Boone County history.  She served on the North Arkansas College Board of Trustees from January of 1993 through December of 2000.

    "LaVerne has been a tremendous leader and supporter for Northark," said Dr. Bill Baker, president of North Arkansas College.  "During her lifetime, she has proven that women can raise a family, attain career goals, and become community leaders.  She's a real role model for other women across the state."

    Born in Seymour, Tex., Grayson moved to Modesto, Calif., when she was nine years old.  She graduated from Elk Grove High School in Sacramento, Calif.  After graduation, she met her future husband, Joe Grayson, while working in a Campbell Soup plant.  Fulfilling a dream of having a farm, LaVerne and Joe moved to Harrison.  With one small son and a second child on the way, the hog farm Joe and LaVerne owned didn't generate enough income to support a growing family.

    After the birth of her fourth son, LaVerne completed LPN training at Twin Lakes Vocational-Technical School and received her LPN license.  She immediately started work at the local hospital to help support her family, including her brother and sister, who had moved to Arkansas to live with them.

    While working full time as a licensed practical nurse, LaVerne entered the registered nursing program at North Arkansas Community College and was a member of Northark's first nursing graduating class.  After completing the RN program, Grayson started working for the Arkansas Department of Health in 1979 as a staff nurse.  She quickly advanced and became the administrator of the Boone County Health Unit.  After serving in that role, she became a communicable disease nurse specialist for a six-county area.

    Following an agency reorganization, LaVerne became a public health investigator supervisor and helped establish one of the first AIDS programs in northwest Arkansas.  She is a past president of the Arkansas Public Health Nurse Association and the Arkansas Public Health Association.

    One of the first women in Harrison to join the Rotary Club, Grayson has been very active in local organizations.  She served the American Red Cross as a chapter manager and was a Southwest Regional Committee member representing Arkansas.  She has served on the LPN Advisory Board at Northark and the local Salvation Army Board.  She is a former chairperson of North Arkansas College's Board of Trustees, and has been very active in the First United Methodist Church of Harrison.

    Northark's Commencement will be held at the Baker Amphitheatre on the South Campus of North Arkansas College.  The public is invited to attend the event, which will also include dedication activities for the Baker Amphitheatre.

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