Fayetteville Public Schools -

29th Annual Hall of Honor Ceremonies

The newest additions to the Fayetteville Schools Hall of Honor were announced at a news conference today at Fayetteville High School by the Fayetteville Public Education Foundation. The 2025 inductees to the Fayetteville Schools Hall of Honor are Judge Beth Storey Bryan, Becky Cox, and Lioneld and Diana Jordan.

Beth Storey Bryan was born in Fayetteville and attended Root Elementary School, Woodland Jr. High School, and Fayetteville High School, where she graduated in 1991. She attended the University of Arkansas, earning a bachelor’s degree in political science in 1995. She earned her juris doctorate from the University of Arkansas School of Law in 1998, thirty years to the day that her father, Judge William Storey, graduated from the same law school.

Beth practiced law with the Everett Firm from 1998 until 2004 when she opened the Storey Bryan Law Firm. She represented clients in a variety of actions including complex civil litigation, domestic relations cases, criminal cases, and probate cases.

In 2010 she was elected to the Fourth Judicial District Circuit Judge position. In this role she presides over civil, criminal and probate proceedings; manages a docket of 2,500 cases each year and initiated creation of funding for Washington County Circuit Court Ad Litems. She also initiated the creation of the Circuit Clerk Domestic Violence coordinator. Beth serves as the circuit judge for Division V of the Fourth Judicial Circuit Court and is the Administrative Judge for the 4th Judicial District. 

Beth is a member of the Washington County Bar Association and the Arkansas Bar Association. She is also a member of the Arkansas Judicial Council, where she has served on the Trial Court Employee Committee, the Domestic Relations and Probate Committee, and the Domestic Violence Committee. She has also served the Administrative Office of the Courts Ad Litem as a qualification training speaker and as an NBI Continuing Legal Education speaker. Beth is an adjunct professor at the University of Arkansas School of Law where she teaches trial skills. 

Beth volunteers her time in the community through Central United Methodist Church, where she has served on the Board of Trustees and Church Council, and has co-chaired the Good SAM Christmas Families project for the past 17 years, co-chairs the Good SAM Back to School project, and served as a Sunday School teacher. She has also served on the board of directors of several organizations including Woodland Junior High PTO, Butterfield Elementary PTO, Fayetteville High School Tennis Team Merchandising Chair, Fayetteville High Dance and Cheer Booster Clubs, Fayetteville Junior Civic League, and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Board. She was named the Volunteer of the Year in 2017 and 2021 by the Butterfield Elementary PTO and the 2025 Volunteer of the Year by the Woodland Jr. High PTO.  She was also instrumental in creating the Bronco Academy at Butterfield Elementary providing after school enrichment for hundreds of students each year.  

Beth lives in Fayetteville with her husband Davey. Their children currently attend the University of Arkansas and Fayetteville High School.

Rebecca Jane Cox was born in Malvern, Arkansas and attended the Magnet Cove Public Schools, graduating from Magnet Cove High School in1967. She attended Ouachita Baptist University where she earned a bachelor’s degree in Education with certifications in English, Speech, and Drama in 1971.

She served as an English teacher in the Bryant, Arkansas and New Deal, Texas, public schools before moving to Fayetteville in 1978 to accept a position as a seventh and ninth grade English teacher at Woodland Jr. High. Duirng her tenure at Woodland, she served as chair of the English Department and as a cheerleader sponsor. She moved to Fayetteville High School in 1987 to teach eleventh grade English and Advanced Placement English and Composition and serve as the faculty sponsor of Key Club, She served as the faculty adviser for Connotations, the national award-winning student literary magazine from 1997 to her retirement in 2014.

During her tenure at FHS, Rebecca also served as the SAT and ACT test center supervisor from 1990 to 2014. She also served as a College Board consultant in AP English Language and Composition from 1997 to 2017. She served on the Arkansas Committee for Portfolio Use from 1990 to 1994 and served as a reader in the development of Arkansas’s state writing assessment (ACTAAP). She continues to serve as a reader and table leader for AP English Language and Composition Exam for the College Board and as one of the judges for literary magazines for Columbia Scholastic Press, National Scholastic Press, and Southern Interscholastic Press.

In 2019 Rebecca was hired to be an English consultant for AR AIMS (Arkansas Advanced Initiative for Math and Science) where she worked with teachers and students across the state teaching strategies in preparation for AP and ATLAS testing. She continues to work for AR AIMS.

In the community, Rebecca is a member of the Fayetteville Sequoyah Kiwanis Club, where she has served two terms as president and served as lieutenant governor for the Missouri-Arkansas district of Kiwanis. She also serves in the Delta Kappa Gamma Women’s Education organization and as a member of PEO Chapter K.

Rebecca lives in Fayetteville with her husband Ron. She enjoys traveling in the U.S. and in Europe, being a part of her book club, playing tennis, and enjoying three young granddaughters.

Lioneld Jordan was born in Fayetteville and lived in Wesley, Arkansas. He attended the Huntsville Arkansas Public Schools. Diana Jordan was born in Pomona, California, and her family moved to Springdale when she was 10 years old. She attended Springdale Public Schools. Lioneld and Diana married in 1976.

Lioneld was a career employee of the University of Arkansas before being elected to the Fayetteville City Council in 2000. He was re-elected in 2004 and then was elected Mayor in 2008. He was re-elected as Mayor in 2012, 2016, and 2020.

Throughout his terms on the City Council and his four terms as Mayor of Fayetteville, Lioneld was a strong supporter of Fayetteville Public Schools and was a frequent visitor to school events and classrooms. During the COVID epidemic, he was a strong partner with Fayetteville Public Schools as the city and the school district navigated uncharted waters.

In April of 2019 Fayetteville voters approved a one-penny sales tax that enabled the city to invest up to $226 million in Fayetteville to fund crucial improvements to roads, trails, parks, public safety, job creation, and the construction of the Cultural Arts Corridor. This was the result of many months of Lioneld’s work as mayor to educate residents on the importance of the projects. He also continued to monitor the projects to keep them on time and on budget.

While very ably fulfilling her role as First Lady of Fayetteville during her husband’s terms as Mayor, Diana Jordan was hired as a bus driver in 1990, and she is currently the most tenured employee in the Fayetteville Public Schools Transportation Department. Most of her 35 years in the department have been spent driving a special needs bus caring for the school district’s most fragile students.

Lioneld and Diana live in Fayetteville and enjoy their children, grandchildren and four rescue dogs.

The purpose of the Hall of Honor is threefold:

1. Provide role models for students by honoring former students who have distinguished themselves;

2. Create excitement about education

3. Honor those educators and friends who have made extraordinary contributions to public education in Fayetteville.

The Hall of Honor is hosted by the Fayetteville Public Education Foundation and co-hosted by the Fayetteville High School Student Alumni Association and Student Council. The Hall of Honor Induction ceremonies will be held on Thursday, October 30 at the Fayetteville Public Library. A reception will be held at 5:30 PM, dinner will be served at 6:30 PM, and the ceremonies will begin at 7:30 PM. Reservations for the event are $125 each and may be purchased by calling the Foundation office at 479-527-3655 or by visiting the website at www.fayedfoundation.org.