Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Farmington Counselor Receives Top Honor
NORSWORTHY FOLLOWED FATHER’S ADVICE
FARMINGTON — Some people have an ability to help others in caring, respectful and wise ways that preserve dignity and give hope. They are humble, generous and able to listen carefully and understand more than what words say.
Farmington High School has such a person in counselor Donna Norsworthy.
Through her exceptional service as 9th- and 10th-grade counselor, Donna Norsworthy has been selected as secondary counselor of the year by the Arkansas School Counselor Association. She will receive her award this summer at a conference in Hot Springs.
Owls and inspirational plaques decorate Norsworthy’s office walls and bookshelves. Upholstered chairs offer comfort to those who sit across the desk from her, and her open countenance and quiet reserve create an atmosphere of calm and peace.
FOLLOWED FATHER’S ADVICE
Norsworthy said she’s always wanted to help people and used that as a guide when her daddy told her to find a career she could love so that coming to work wouldn’t seem like a chore.
Norsworthy, whose father died in 2004, followed his advice, and her selection by the Association supports and honors his counsel. However, she said, “It’s quite humbling to have [this] recognition.”
Norsworthy said some of her inspiration to help others came from watching and being helped by her future mother-in-law, who was the counselor at Smackover High School. Donna Rogers and Jason Norsworthy both attended school at Smackover and Louisiana Tech University in Ruston before being married in 1995.
When Norsworthy was nominated for the award, the packet fell into Farmington High School Principal Jon Purifoy’s lap to complete. Purifoy, a former college baseball player and high school softball coach, knows a lot about teamwork, and he made it clear that Norsworthy is a valued member of the Farmington High School team.
Purifoy said he worked about a week on the nomination packet, collecting supporting documents from one of Norsworthy’s colleagues and a student and writing his own letter in support of her.
He said, “I worked hard to keep it a secret so I could surprise her. Then I got to the part of the nomination instructions that said Donna had to write an essay. I sat still for a minute, then I carefully put everything into a file folder, walked from my office to hers, laid it on her desk, and told her what she needed to do.”
He added, “You really want to surprise them, but it’s not always that way.”
DOESN’T SEEK SPOTLIGHT
Purifoy said Norsworthy is not a person who seeks the spotlight and said he worried she wouldn’t write the essay. He said he would go into her office about once a week and inquire about her progress.
Norsworthy said the essay required her to explain and give examples of not only how she advocates for the counseling profession but also how she collaborates with other stakeholders such as students, parents, school administrators, and community members.
Jeni Bradberry, 11th- and 12th-grade counselor at Farmington, echoed Purifoy and said her colleague is “not someone who seeks the limelight.” Bradberry said Donna is “very humble” and has “great rapport with her kids and their families. She has a big heart for people and cares for them.” The counselor’s office secretary Lori McCain said, “I love working with her.”
Norsworthy said, “I feel strongly that this award is a reflection not only of myself but of this school and school system.” She said counselors depend on others to alert them about situations and needs because counselors are not mind readers. She said, “If teachers and staff don’t alert us to possible student troubles, we wouldn’t be able to help them.”
Purifoy commented on the countless hours Norsworthy spends working for students. He said, “I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve driven by the school on the weekends and during vacations and seen her car in the parking lot. She looks after her kids and doesn’t stop until she’s done all she can.”
WISE COUNSEL GIVEN
Purifoy, who has been with Farmington since 2013, expressed gratitude for Norsworthy’s willingness to use her counseling abilities to help and comfort parents and colleagues. He said he takes Norsworthy with him when faculty and staff lose loved ones or have other difficulties because they respond so well to her.
In his nomination letter, he wrote, “Donna is an extremely loyal person who has been supportive and trustworthy … I have been able to count on her to give wise counsel to staff and students as we have worked together these last four years.”
Norsworthy worked as an elementary counselor at Junction City before moving to West Fork in 1995. She taught night classes for a year to high school students as part of Boston Mountain Education Cooperative’s alternative learning environment. She then spent several years as a family services worker with the Department of Human Services until she gave birth to son Jacob. In 1999, the family moved to Clemson, S.C., where twin daughters Abigail and Isabella were born.
The family returned to the area in 2007 when Jason was hired by the University of Arkansas’ School of Agriculture to teach crop, soil and environmental science. That same year, Norsworthy began working for Farmington as the middle school counselor. She moved into the high school counselor position in 2010, and she also served as high school registrar until this past year, according to Purifoy’s nomination letter.
Norsworthy said the family lives on a 68-acre farm near West Fork where they grow a garden and raise cattle and sometimes other livestock. They also work on their other farm near the location of the new Farmington High School campus, set to open this fall. She said her children have been involved in 4-H and FFA, and any time she isn’t working, she likes to be on one of the farms.
Norsworthy was nominated by Debbie Drake, a counselor at Elkins, who was selected 2016 middle school/junior high counselor of the year, according to the Association’s website. Norsworthy is one of three counselors at three grade levels to be selected. The three levels are elementary, middle school/junior high, and secondary. The three will be considered for the overall Arkansas State Counselor of the Year Award, and the person selected will be announced at the Association’s conference in July in Hot Springs.