Stringer Attendance Center counselor honored by MSU program

Contact: Allison Matthews

Sonya Ready of Stringer Attendance Center, center, is named the 2011 Counselor of the Year. She is congratulated by Libbo Haskins, left, chair of the MSU High School Counselor of the Year committee, and John Marszalek, director and mentor of the scholars program.
Sonya Ready of Stringer Attendance Center, center, is named the 2011 Counselor of the Year. She is congratulated by Libbo Haskins, left, chair of the MSU High School Counselor of the Year committee, and John Marszalek, director and mentor of the scholars program.

STARKVILLE, Miss.--A Stringer Attendance Center educator is receiving Mississippi State's 2011 High School Counselor of the Year Award for her work in promoting student growth and development.

Sonya Ready of Stringer was chosen for the award by the Distinguished Scholars Program, an organization of the university's top students.

Ready has been a counselor for 13 years, with eight years previously spent as a first-grade teacher.

The honor recognizes a high school counselor who has exhibited outstanding service to students, school and community. It is accompanied by a gift of $500, which Ready received during a recent scholarship recognition banquet on campus.

Ready holds bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Southern Mississippi. She also has been honored with a B.E.S.T. Club Teacher of the Year Award and several other education honors.

"Her peers know her as a determined educator with an impeccable work ethic and a mind for innovation in the school system," John Marszalek said. "She has received numerous awards for her ability to create new programming and promote personal achievement on behalf of the students she serves."

Marszalek, an MSU Giles Distinguished Professor Emeritus, is director and mentor of the scholars program. (For more on the program, see www.honors.msstate.edu/scholars/.)

For more information about Mississippi State University, see www.msstate.edu.