In addition to being the assistant principal at Provo High School, Karen Brown is the mother of four boys, a devoted wife, and a student in the School Leadership Program in the Department of Educational Leadership and Foundations.

Brown grew up in Spanish Fork, Utah. She received her bachelor’s degree from Utah State University, where she met her husband. The Browns currently resides in Spanish Fork, and has worked at the Provo School District for 29 years: first as an English teacher, then as a district officer, and now as the assistant Provo High principal.

As a student on the ExSL Track in the School Leadership Program, Brown is one of very few students to be working as an administrator while receiving her master’s degree. “It’s been a balancing act, but it’s been really good,” Brown said. She is scheduled to graduate from the ExSL Track in April.

This year, Brown was the surprised recipient of the School Leadership Award, a scholarship honoring school leadership students who show academic excellence and hard work in all that they do. “I didn’t know that I was going to get the scholarship, so it was a wonderful surprise,” Brown said. “It’s nice to know that people have confidence in me, and that they’re putting their trust in what I’m doing. It’s an honor, and it was a real blessing for my family and me.”

Brown appreciates her experience in the School Leadership Program, particularly the close friendships she has made and all that she has learned from her professors. “They really want their students to succeed and to have good experiences,” Brown said. “The things that they do in their office are toward what we need and what we need to know. The professors are really good people, and they have such a wide array of knowledge and experience.”

7 November 2011