Fort Thomas’ Larry Holladay named recipient of Prichard Committee’s Raimondo Leadership Award

A Fort Thomas parent described as being “a fearless advocate for students and communities” is the recipient of the 2020 Beverly Nickell Raimondo Leadership Award from the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence.

Larry Holladay “truly embodies Beverly’s spirit of a parent leader and she would be proud of the passion which Larry brings to building into other parent leaders,” Julia Pile, Boone County School Board Member and President of ParentCamp, noted in her nomination letter.

Larry Holladay

A fellow of the Prichard Committee’s Commonwealth Institute for Parent Leadership, which trains parents to help improve the achievement of all students, Holladay served on the Fort Thomas School Board from 2001-2006, was a board member of the Kentucky Association of School Councils from 2001 to 2004, and has been a member of the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence since 2012. He currently serves on the Kentucky Collaborative for Families and Schools Advisory Committee and has been collecting stories of family and community engagement across Kentucky in the Volunteer Story Collector series.

“In the mid-1990’s, as I worked as a Distinguished Educator for the state of Kentucky, Larry and I were involved in a new project with the Prichard Committee, with Bev Raimondo herself, as well. This project, the PT3 process, would go on to become a transformative experience for thousands of educators and community members. Larry was instrumental in this work, from the perspective of a parent, community leader, and entrepreneur,“ noted Dr. Karen Cheser, Superintendent of Fort Thomas Independent Schools.

The Prichard Committee award is named in honor and memory of Beverly Nickell Raimondo, who was instrumental in the development of the Commonwealth Institute for Parent Leadership in 1997. Since its founding, the institute has trained and supported hundreds of parents as advocates for educational excellence.

“Bev believed that if parents were united in their call for change, it would lead to a groundswell for reforms that would sweep across the state. Her legacy continues to live through Larry’s efforts and parents across Kentucky that work in her honor to advocate for excellent schools for all of our children,” said Brigitte Blom Ramsey, President and CEO of the Prichard Committee.