Candidate with new ideas and a new vision versus a rocking chair candidate
Ms. Deb McCasland
Ms. Deb McCasland and Mr. Harold Harrington are vying for a seat on the 2nd District Community College Governing Board. Ms. McCasland filed her papers on Tuesday, August 5 and Mr. Harrington filed a day later. He is trying to hold on to the seat he has occupied for several years while Ms. McCasland is intending to bring new ideas and a new vision to the Governing Board. Mr. Harrington is a resident of Cornville while Ms. McCasland is a resident of Prescott Valley.
McCasland earned both a bachelor of science and a master’s degree from Northern Arizona University. Her master’s is in Community College Education with an emphasis on guidance and counseling. During her years as a student, she was involved in student government and activities. She worked as a secretary in the student activities office at the Community College, where she decided she “wanted to be more than a secretary. I wanted to be the boss.”
She became the student activities director at Yavapai Community College in 1976. That same year, she started the Performing Arts program with a series of six shows. She is credited with introducing the Artists-in-Residence program, bringing artists to local schools for weeklong programs, and introducing thousands of young people to music, dance and theater. During her tenure as director, the Performing Arts program’s annual budget on the Prescott campus grew from $6,000 to more than $1 million. When the college built its new performance hall and opened it in 1992, McCasland became the full-time director of community events, a position she kept until 2007. Source: Prescott Daily Courier.
She says she seeks to bring new ideas and a new vision to the Community College Governing Board.