Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Shaver To Retire As GPS Principal

Joe Ann Shaver, Gurdon Primary School principal, recently announced that she would retire at the end of the 1997 school year.

She will be honored with a reception at the Gurdon Municipal Building on Sunday, May 18, from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. All friends and former students are invited to attend.

Her education accomplishments include a BSE from HSU in 1965 and a MSE from HSU in 1969. She also attended OBU and UCA, where she obtained early childhood certification in 1974.

Mrs. Shaver began teaching at Prescott Elementary School in 1965. In the fall of 1970, she came to Gurdon where she taught first grade for three years and kindergarten for three years. Shortly after earning her administrative certification in 1976, she was hired as Gurdon Primary School principal and has served in that capacity for the past twenty-one years.

She has been a member of the Arkansas Association of Elementary School Principals (AAESP) since 1976 and has attended the annual principals' meeting each year. In 1991, she was selected as Zone VII Principal of the Year.

Being a believer in professional organizations, she has been a member of Delta Kappa Gamma, the International Reading Association, the Arkansas Reading Council and the Southwest Arkansas Reading Council. She has held several state and local offices.

Mrs. Shaver has been a longtime member of Beirne Baptist Church and is a member of the Gurdon CD&E Club. She has always taken an active part in her community.

She is married to Charles Shaver and they have two sons. Joe and his wife, Debora, live at Beirne, while Chris and his wife, Anita, reside in North Little Rock.

The Shavers are the proud grandparents of four grandchildren, Eric, Mandy, Jared and Seth, and they are equally proud of great grandchild, Erica.

As some expressed it: after being a member of the Gurdon Primary School staff for 27 wonderful years, it is hard to imagine that school will start next year without Mrs. Shaver. She has always been most supportive of her teachers and she will always have a special place in her heart for the hundreds of students who have come and gone during her years as principal.

Mrs. Shaver is loved and respected by many, many teachers and students. Her tenure at Gurdon Primary School has seen many changes and improvements.

She has truly been an outstanding principal and may she be remembered by her favorite faculty meeting quote: "Let us never forget that the children are the reason we are here."