By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

ALABASTER – Alabaster City Schools Student Services Coordinator Dorann Tanner had briefly stepped out of the room at a conference in Mobile to make a phone call regarding a student services matter at Thompson Middle School when one of her peers asked her to return to the room.

When Tanner walked in, she received a standing ovation.

“It was ironic that I was working on a student services situation when I won an award for student services,” Tanner said during a March 8 phone interview. “It’s a big honor to be the first person to win this award.”

During the Alabama Association of Prevention Attendance and Support Services convention in Mobile on March 4, Tanner became the first recipient of The Rhonda L. Cotten Be the Change Award recognizing outstanding school student services in Alabama.

The award is named after a Baldwin County student services coordinator who lost her battle with breast cancer last year.

“She came up with the state grade-tracking program that helps to identify at-risk students when they are in third-grade,” Tanner said of Cotten. “Baldwin County’s graduation rate was way down, and she turned it around.”

Tanner was chosen out of 16 nominees from across the state, and received multiple nominations from current and retired school employees.

The nomination forms praised Tanner’s work in bringing programs such as the anonymous alerts system, Warrior the ACS therapy dog and the ACES program.

“I can think of no better person to be considered for this award than Mrs. Dorann Tanner,” ACS Coordinator of Exceptional Education Dr. Keri Johnson wrote in her nomination form. “Her infectious excitement about new programs under her leadership gets everyone on board. She is not afraid to think outside of the box or to try new things, and she always has what is in the best interest of our students in mind.”

“You take her an idea of something that could benefit students, helping them reach their full potential, and she will look for ways to see it come to fruition,” wrote retired Shelby County Board of Education employee Donna Dickson.

Tanner’s programs have helped ACS raise its graduation rate from 90 percent before the system formed to 97 percent today.

“She has done an outstanding job as our student services coordinator,” said Alabaster School Superintendent Dr. Wayne Vickers. “It’s no surprise that she received that recognition from her peers across the state.”