Citizen Staff Writer
MARY BUSTAMANTE
mbustamante@tucsoncitizen.com
Media representatives, educators, parents and a student have been selected members of Tucson Unified School District’s Communications Advisory Committee.
“Dr. Fagen (Superintendent Elizabeth Celania-Fagen) is very big on involving stakeholder groups and having vehicles for them to offer input,” said TUSD Communications & Media Relations Director Chyrl Hill Lander.
“That’s why she created her Superintendent’s Advisory Committee and the Budget Advisory Committee. It’s why the Communications Advisory Committee was created and it’s why we will be creating a Facilities Advisory Committee,” she said.
The 13 members of the Communications Advisory Committee, chosen from 76 applicants, are:
• Gene Armstrong, a network technician at Carson Middle School and former Arizona Daily Star editor
• Chris Baker, who works in marketing
• Anita Barrios, a parent of a student at Drachman Montessori and a Web editor with experience in newspaper and broadcast reporting and editing
• Daniel J. Benavidez, a parent who works in public relations
• Michelle Crow, a parent who works in community relations
• Gabriel A. Garcia, a student at Pueblo Magnet High School
• Andrew T. Greeley, director of communications for the Tucson Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce
• Andrew R. Kent, principal of Fort Lowell Elementary School
• Susan Knight, a parent, a journalism professor at the University of Arizona, and a former Arizona Daily Star education reporter
• Ron Michaels, who works in advertising, public relations and marketing
• Kathy Prather, director of TUSD’s Career & Technical Education Department and a former advertising agency account executive
• Jennifer Sprung, a science teacher and adviser to the Superintendent’s Student Advisory Council
• Larry D. Starks, a parent and community services administrator for the Arizona Department of Juvenile Corrections.
The committee will meet for the first time from 4 to 6 p.m. Feb. 24 in the Blue Room at district headquarters, 1010 E. 10th St.
The meeting will be open to the public.
Lander said several of the members represent more than one group the district was seeking, such as parents of TUSD students and members of media-related fields.
“Strong consideration was given to parents,” she said, and “consideration also was given to having representation from elementary, middle and high school sites.”