Betty Harriet Fairfax has received countless state and national honors and awards for her remarkable career, but having her name on a Phoenix Union High School may be her proudest moment.  She has spent 57 years in this District making sure that thousands of children take advantage of the opportunities public education affords.  Now 89, and still working with students and parents at Central High as the Dean Emeritus, Fairfax's influence on our community is immeasurable.  

"It just shows you what can happen in education.  My education has been invaluable to me and I want to give others the opportunity to have a good education.  We must all help others."

She was recruited to Arizona in 1950 to teach physical education and science, and coach at Carver High School, the city's high school for African-Americans prior to school integration.  Fairfax went to Phoenix Union High School in 1955 after Carver closed, and became a counselor.  She moved to Central High in 1969 and became Dean of Students in 1991, specializing in guiding at-risk students district-wide.

Fairfax is renowned for her no-nonsense, dogged approach to student success.  Students come to her by appointment and if they do not show up, she will call them on the phone, find them in the parking lot or call their parents and go to their house.  "No" is not an option when she wants to speak to students regarding their future plans, their daily grades, or their attendance. "When Ms.Fairfax talks, you will listen,"  students past and present recall.

Betty Fairfax has served on many community boards and committees, but she has shared more than her time and knowledge.  She is a philanthropist, supporting endowments totaling more than $1 million along with her sister, Jean. In 1987, she challenged over 90 eighth graders from Bethune Elementary School to graduate high school, giving each $1,000 a year for college.  She has funded educational equity initiatives, students who have special needs and African-American students committed to careers in urban education both here, in Cleveland, and at her alma mater, Kent State University.  In 1998, her sister established the Betty H. Fairfax Fund for Educational Equity with the Arizona Community Foundation.  

Fairfax was born July 31, 1918 in Cleveland, where her mother was a social worker who passed on her gift of giving to her daughters, Betty and Jean.  Betty was an outstanding athlete, competing in tennis, track and swimming, and considered trying out for the Olympics.  After high school, she ventured west to Kansas, attending Washburn University.  Her first day there she was told she could not eat in the dining room with the White students.  She soon returned to Ohio and Kent State, where again she could not eat with White students or live in the dormitory.  However, her accomplishments in the classroom prompted one professor to assign Fairfax to teach his class when he had to go out of town for a week.   She received her Bachelors degree in 1940 and began her teaching career with Cleveland Public Schools.  Fairfax earned her Masters at Western Reserve University in Cleveland, and has taken post-graduate courses at Columbia University, University of Arizona and Arizona State University.

Betty Fairfax represents almost six decades of Phoenix Union history and her contributions are uniquely commemorated.  This is the first time in the 112-year history of the District that a school has been named after an employee.   Betty H. Fairfax High School just sounds right, doesn't it.