Education notebook

Hall alums aiming to aid alma mater

Graduates of Little Rock’s Hall High School recently established the Hall High Alumni Association, also known as The Tribe, to offer support to their alma mater and its student body.

The association that organized at the urging of the Class of 1965 is calling on past and current students, as well as faculty and staff, to attend 5 p.m. festivities before the Hall High girls’ and boys’ basketball games Friday at the school’s Cirks Arena. The alumni will sit together during the games in which the Hall teams will face Sheridan High.

The first 250 people dressed in the school’s colors of orange and white will be awarded $2 coupons for concession items and a free orange pompom.

“Our goal for next Friday is to support the students at their homecoming game, reach out and connect to more alumni, share information about The Tribe, and most importantly show community support for Hall High,” Tisha Gribble, a 1992 graduate and a member of the association’s board, said last week.

The organization has a Facebook page — LRHHS The Tribe. A website is being constructed and should be available within a few days.

Student mentoring and a garden project are some of the early initiatives underway to support and promote the school.

Marsha Scott is the president of the association, which has attained 501(c)(3) status as a nonprofit organization that can accept donations and pledges from its members.

Retirements by 3 total 125 years

The Arkansas Board of Education’s meeting agenda for today makes note of the January retirements of Dorothy and John Gillam, who together worked 94 years for the state Department of Education.

Dorothy Gillam, administrative analyst in the Education Commissioner’s office, has left the agency after 50 years and six months.

Her husband, John Gillam, senior software analyst, was on board with the agency for 43 years and six months.

The list of personnel changes in the Education Department also cites the Dec. 31 retirement of Virginia Hill, administrative specialist in the department’s communications office, after 31 years.

2 NLR workshops set at high school

The North Little Rock School Board has scheduled two workshops for this month and, in a first for the board, both sessions will be in the newly renovated and expanded high school — in the dining area between Ole Main and Tower D.

The board will meet at 5:30 p.m. today on the topic of School Board policies. Kristen Craig Garner, an attorney with the Arkansas School Board Association, will be on hand to assist the board on that review.

The board will meet the second time at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday on district finances with the focus on employee pay and building construction.