We salute the CURRENT (2024) Regional Nominees...
EASTERN REGION - MARYLAND
Karen Crawford is Acting Executive Director for the Maryland Association of Student Councils. Now retired from education, Karen served as a teacher and administrator for 37 years and has continued her involvement with Student Activities, now in her 47th year. Karen was a school advisor for over 20 years, a Regional Advisor in Montgomery County, and then an advisor at the state level as Assistant (and now Acting) Executive Director for the Maryland Association of Student Councils.
Karen, now a resident of West Virginia, also actively supports the West Virginia Association of Student Councils at their Fall Conference, and regularly serves as a resource to student leaders and Advisors throughout the Northeast. A frequent Workshop and Table Talks presenter, Karen has been actively involved in every NAWD-NA4SA National Conference on Student Activities since 2004 in Cleveland, Ohio. This is the second time that Karen has been recognized as a Regional Earl Reum Award recipient, the first being in 2009.
CENTRAL REGION - MINNESOTA
Karrie Fredrickson is a Leadership and AP Psychology teacher, Student Council, and National Honor Society Advisor at Sartell High School in Sartell, Minnesota. Karrie has been an educator for 29 years, 27 of them being involved with Student Activities. For many of those years, Karrie has also been active at the state and National level, frequently presenting at state Student Council Conferences, LEAD Conferences, and our National Conference on Student Activities (NCSA). She has conducted Student Council Leadership Retreats for her own school and New Advisor Training for the Minnesota Association of Student Councils for the past 15 years.
Karrie has been an active participant at every NCSA since her first, in 2015 at Niagara Falls, New York. Karrie was recognized as the Minnesota Advisor of the Year and a Regional Warren E. Shull Award finalist in 2016. This is the second time that Karrie has been recognized as a Regional Earl Reum Award recipient, the first being in 2019.
SOUTHERN REGION - GEORGIA
Laura Droms is an Assistant Principal at East Jackson High School in Commerce, Georgia and also serves as Executive Director for the Georgia Association of Student Councils. Laura has been an educator for 23 years, all of them being involved with Student Activities. In that time, she rebooted the Georgia Summer Camp program and hosted the 2014 Conference of the Southern Association of Student Councils (SASC). Laura was Advisor of the Year for the Georgia Association of Student Councils in 2008 and received the same honor from the Southern Association of Student Councils in 2016.
Laura also served on the Executive Board for the National Association of State Student Council Executive Directors (NASSCED) for several years, representing her Region and also serving as Secretary/Webmaster. Laura has been an active participant at every NCSA since 2013 in Austin, Texas and led the hosting team for our 2018 NCSA in Atlanta, Georgia. This is the second time that Laura has been recognized as a Regional Earl Reum Award recipient, the first being in 2021.
WESTERN REGION - WASHINGTON
James Layman is Director for the Association of Washington Student Leaders. He has been an educator for 15 years, all of them being involved with Student Activities. In his current position, James oversees student voice initiatives and programs, frequently traveling throughout Washington State as a program facilitator, keynote speaker, equity consultant, and curriculum writer. His travels extend beyond his own state, as he facilitates a Leadership Academy in Las Vegas each summer and has led numerous adult workshops on School Culture & Climate, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion. In 2021, James created the “I Am, We Are” program to celebrate the work of Dr. Martin Luther King; this program has expanded beyond Washington State to reach schools nationally.
James has been an active participant at every NCSA since 2017, when he was part of the hosting team for “Leadership Revolution” in Spokane, Washington. James was an active contributor to the development of our first Strategic Plan and joined the NA4SA Board of Directors in 2020 to represent the Western Region. He now serves as the Treasurer of NA4SA. This is the first time that James has been recognized as a Regional Earl Reum Award recipient.
Each of the above regional nominees is truly "an excellent teacher of teachers", embodying the spirit and ideals set forth by Dr. Earl Reum while serving as true inspiration to student leaders as well as their fellow advisors and activity directors. After the Regional Earl Reum Awards were presented, only one of these outstanding individuals could be selected to become the 2024 National Earl Reum Award recipient...
Everything that this year’s National Earl Reum Award recipient does revolves around a passionate belief in the importance and impact of student leadership, as well as the underlying theory which supports the development and practice of it. This passion and belief have been shared locally as an active Student Council Advisor and respected Instructional Leader within their school community, regionally as a guide and mentor to both student leaders and their advisors, statewide as a leader in their State Student Council Association, and nationally through active involvement in both the National Association of Student Councils and your National Association for Student Activities. In all of these capacities this year’s National Earl Reum Award recipient has truly exemplified the essence of leadership as service to others and continues to do so for the benefit of advisors throughout their state, region – and throughout our nation.
Yes, this year’s recipient of the National Earl Reum Award has selflessly exemplified four of the most important criteria – to encourage and inspire others in the field of student leadership, enthusiastically share experience and expertise through presentation to adults, to promote, facilitate, and create opportunities for adults to receive information to share with their students, and to promote student leadership and activities at the state and national level. In nominating this year’s National Earl Reum Award recipient, the following words were used; “I was a student leader involved in my State Association who went on to serve as the Executive Director of that Association. My Assistant Executive Director was forty years older than me, and she became one of my greatest mentors, openly sharing her decades of wisdom and knowledge, helping me to cultivate my own style of leadership while reminding me to trust myself to make the right decisions.”
Olivia Keithley is just one of so many professionals who are “infinitely” better off because of the guidance and mentorship provided by today’s honoree, including many Student Activity Professionals not only in Maryland but across the nation. Congratulations to Karen Crawford, the 2024 National Earl Reum Award recipient!
Please CLICK on the images below to visit their websites!
Please CLICK on the images below to visit their websites!