Thursday, March 31, 2011

Meet Dr. Kathryn Byrd - Woman of Distinction 2011

Through her work with the League of Women Voters, Dr. Kathryn Byrd of ­Tuscaloosa brings the message about voting rights to the public. Since retiring as a speech-language pathologist, Byrd has served in the Tuscaloosa City Schools on the Magnet School Task Force and currently on the Dropout Prevention Task Force. She has also volunteered in the schools teaching English as a second language. Byrd headed the Alabama State Department of Education Speech Pathology Task Force for 10 years, which included development of a speech pathology manual for the ALSDE.

Byrd’s professional honors include being named elementary school nominee to the Jacksonville State Teachers Hall of Fame for Tuscaloosa City Schools, nominated for the Roland Van Hattum national award for school-based SLPs and recipient of the ­Loretta G. Brown Award as outstanding public school clinician. Byrd has been recognized as Volunteer of the Year by Volunteers in America for teaching English to Vietnamese, Chinese and Korean students.

As a Girl Scout leader, she focused on being a positive role model for the girls and was awarded the Thanks Badge. Byrd’s motto is, “Take one step at a time to avoid being overwhelmed and therefore giving up.”

Byrd will be recognized at the West Alabama Women of Distinction Luncheon on April 7. For more information, visit www.girlscoutsnca.org/wodwest.