Fans couldn’t, one, believe they were being graced with the presence of Queen Bey, let alone she flawlessly delivered her rendition of Dolly Parton’s Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You.” She’s been practicing this song which appears on the The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas Bodyguard soundtrack, since her The Mrs. Carter Show World Tour” in 2013. Beyoncé nailed it again when she took to the stage co the stage at the 75th Anniversary Gala fundraiser for daughter Blue Ivy’s rumored school, the Center for Early Education in Los Angeles. Mrs. Carter also sang “XO” and “Crazy in Love.”
The Center for Early Education’s sold-out 75th Anniversary Gala was held at the Shrine on Saturday, March 5, 2016 at 6 p.m. The evening’s honoree was Reveta Bowers, the former long-time head of the school that educates children from toddler to sixth grade. According to her bio, Bowers was born and educated in Los Angeles. She attended the University of Southern California where she received her degree in Humanities. She later returned to graduate school and completed a Master’s degree in Developmental Psychology and three teaching credentials.
In 2010, Bowers received the 2010 NAIS Diversity Leadership Award. She was quoted saying, “Diversity is the hardest work I have ever done,” said Bowers, looking over the audience with tears in her eyes. “I accept this on behalf of the people who stood shoulder to shoulder with me.” As she urged her colleagues to stand up and be counted, Bowers told them, “This is your award for the battles you undertook.”
The NAIS Diversity Leadership Award, as NAIS Vice President Gene Batiste told the audience at the NAIS Annual Conference in San Francisco, seeks to honor “women and men who have left an indelible mark on our work to maintain inclusive independent school communities.” It is the only award NAIS gives out annually.
In 1995, Bowers was a Klingenstein Fellow at Columbia University Teachers College in New York.Bowers has served and continues to serve on a number of boards. She was an outside director of The Walt Disney Company from 1993-2003. She is a past president of the Board of Governors of the Fulfillment Fund, an organization that provides support programs for students in inner city Los Angeles public schools. She also served on the boards of The Educational Records Bureau (ERB), the Klingenstein Center Advisory Board at Columbia University, and the California Community Foundation where she was the Chair of their board. She has served on the boards of the Coalition for Justice, as past Treasurer of the National Association of Independent Schools, as past president of the California Association of Independent Schools, and as a former trustee at Harvard-Westlake, Brentwood and Windward Schools.
