Rachel Denton (left) celebrates her 2015 Locals Love Us award with her mother, Darlene Denton, also a 2015 winner. Staff photo by Daniel Clifton
BURNET — Darlene Denton loves to keep things interesting at the Burnet Consolidated Independent School District Parent Resource Center.
She has held programs that highlighted Japanese culture, invited a Texas Parks and Wildlife Department game warden to demonstrate cooking a pumpkin roll, had the mayor and other local community leaders read Dr. Seuss and even gone to the dogs a few times.
But it’s always been because she wants to make sure parents, students and the community in general succeed.
For her work and dedication, The Picayune readers and KBEY 103.9 FM Radio Picayune listeners voted her the 2015 Locals Love Us favorite Burnet-area school administrator.
“Oh, this is so wonderful,” she said Feb. 26 as she took a break from setting up the center for the Read Across America program March 4-6. Remember how she got the mayor and others to read Dr. Seuss? Well, it’s usually during this three-day "Cat in the Hat" and other Theodore Seuss Geisel characters, creations and stories.
She laughed at how some volunteer readers scheduled to come in during the event stop by ahead of time and check out a book to practice.
“But with some of his books, you really have to because he wrote some incredible words,” Denton said.
Denton doesn’t mind handing out a few Dr. Seuss books. In fact, she’s always ready to help parents, students, teachers and community members. One of the more recent additions is the Dynamic DIVA Dawg Club (DIVA stands for Devoted, Inspired, Virtuous and Authentic.) The club offers girls in elementary and middle schools, along with their mothers or grandmothers, a chance to meet, learn and grow in a very supportive environment.
Since Denton started at the resource center, she’s held cooking programs, reading programs, informational topics and just about anything she can come up with to help people. She’s even brought her dogs in for special reading programs and events.
“Kids love the dogs,” she said. “They love reading about dogs or books with dogs in them.”
But when it comes to the success of the resource center, Denton pushes the success off on others.
“The community really makes this happen,” she said. “They are the reasons this has been successful.”
Whatever the reason, event or cause, the Burnet community knows Darlene Denton puts all her heart into it. And for all her work and dedication, we congratulate her with a Locals Love Us award.
Call Denton at (512) 715-3668 for more information on the Parent Resource Center and how you can get involved.
daniel@thepicayune.com
