Ms. Betty Ford is a native of Marianna, Arkansas. She graduated from Anna Strong High School in 1966. She earned a BSE in Elementary Education from Chicago State University. She received her master’s degree in Early Childhood Education from Arkansas State University, where she was also certified in elementary administration and elementary guidance. She began her career as a fourth and fifth-grade teacher in the Chicago Public School System. She returned to Marianna, Arkansas and taught second grade at Nunnally Elementary and served as a guidance counselor at Anna Strong Elementary. In 1997, Ms. Ford came to the Conway Public School District as the assistant principal for Theodore Jones and Jim Stone Elementary Schools. Two years later, she became the principal of Ellen Smith Elementary, where she served for eleven years until she retired in 2010. Ms. Ford was in the education field for 32 years. After retiring, she continues to devote her time working with children in the Little Rock School District.