r Brenda Beyal, Nebo School District’s Native American Indian Education specialist, was honored as the Utah Education Network’s American Graduate Champion at a dinner the fall. Brenda was nominated by Nebo’s Native American Indian Education Director Eileen Quintana.
Quintana said, “Brenda is a teacher who ‘never gives up on a child.’ Brenda helps facilitates programs that give students the opportunity to deepen their connections with Native American traditions, build community and experience education as relevant and positive. Colleagues credit her work with Title I and Title VII programs for boosting Nebo School District’s high school graduation rate to 100 percent.”
Beyal remarked, “It’s important to look beyond grade levels and test scores and really see each student as an individual. Positive expectations are also important; my high school counselor didn’t ask ‘Are you going to college?’ He asked, ‘What college are you going to?’ That language is powerful.”
