Making the Grade

Mary Ann Arnett Price, principal of the Roosevelt Elementary School in Mesa, Arizona, was named Administrator of the Year for 1997–98 by the Arizona Association of School Psychologists. Sister Price, music coordinator and choir director in the Superstition Springs Ward, Mesa Arizona Kimball East Stake, gives much of the credit for the award to her faculty.

“I polled the teachers and asked them where they thought the school needed improvement,” she says. The answer was to build more respect for both teachers and students. Besides implementing programs to build more respect, Sister Price worked closely with parents to solve behavioral problems early among students.

Sister Price learned as a single parent raising four children, now grown, the importance of loving children and keeping perspective during difficult times. “We are all growing,” she says. “Children in particular need lots of patience. They need to know that if they make a mistake, they are still loved. We also need to give them an opportunity to make that mistake better.”

A graduate of Brigham Young University, Sister Price received a master’s degree in elementary education from Northern Arizona University. She is quick to acknowledge that her testimony and understanding of the gospel help her in dealing with children. “I recognize that every child is a child of God,” she says. “I can’t look at a child and not remember that. I feel it important to give children the tools they need to keep learning and growing until they achieve their potential.”