Mary Beth Scow
Kimberly Wright
By Danielle Ellis
Mary Beth Scow of Henderson and Kimberly Wright of North Las Vegas have been honored by American Mothers of Nevada as exemplary examples of motherhood. Mary Beth Scow has been selected to be the 2009 Nevada Mother of the Year®, and Kimberly Wright was chosen to be the 2009 Nevada Young Mother®. They will be honored at a brunch on May 9th.

Mary Beth Scow

“Motherhood has been my greatest teacher in life,” says Mary Beth Scow. As a mother of nine, and a grandmother of twenty-one (and counting), she has been well schooled. Mary Beth is known throughout the community for her work on the Clark County School District Board of Trustees. Her work there over twelve years has blessed countless children through new programs, better school buildings, higher graduation rates, lower dropout rates and improved proficiency scores by the students in Clark County.

Mary Beth’s involvement in the school system began with her desire to help her own children, and blossomed from parent volunteer, to PTA, to Boy Scouts, to the school board. Her desire has always been to help the children to succeed. Mary Beth is known for her quiet strength, keen leadership abilities and warm personality.

Most important to her, though, are her husband Steve and their children. The results of good parenting are clearly evident in her children. Her older children remember her daily morning send off, “Do your best,” which was shortened to “DYB, DYB, DYB.” They internalized that direction and did their best: eight of the Scow children graduated with the highest honors, including three valedictorians and one salutatorian; the youngest is still in high school. The Scow children have served missions all over the world, married in the temple, and now are raising successful families of their own.

One friend related an experience where one of her sons, a popular athlete and student body leader, was particularly kind and compassionate to a fellow student with serious learning disabilities. The woman commended the boy for his understanding and care. “He looked at me, smiled, and said only two words. ‘Good parenting.’ Not only did this young man recognize what he had been given by his mother, he was happy to share.”

Kimberly Wright

Kimberly Wright is a native of Oklahoma and has been in Las Vegas for four years. She and her husband John are the parents of four young children. She says her most important job as a mother is “to show love and affection to her family.”

Kimberly grew up without the benefit of a loving family, being raised primarily by her widowed grandmother. This gave her the determination to “do it better” when the opportunity came to have her own family. By all accounts, she is succeeding.

Kimberly and John hug their children throughout the day, and “we say ‘I love you’ to each other multiple times a day.” Kimberly says, “I tell them often that they are ‘a very important part of our family’ and that our family would not be complete without them.” She adds, “I pray for them daily and want them to see their Mother walk with God in all areas of my life.” She continues, “It is my prayer that they develop their own personal relationship with Christ and embrace that their entire life.”

The Wrights’ favorite family activities include hiking in the woods, playing in the winter snow at Mt. Charleston, and building forts out of downed branches. They love to take family bike rides, with the little ones in a trailer behind Mom’s bike. They love having picnics and playing in the park. Their consistent family activity is to have a “Friday night camp out.” Every Friday without fail, they have pizza for dinner, put on pajamas and watch a family movie. Another family priority is to have dinner together “sitting around the table and talking” at least four or five nights a week.

Speaking of the greater lessons in family life, Kimberly says, “I am so humbled that God would show me the importance of my own personal growth so that my family can grow and flourish together. God continues to be my greatest source of hope, and because of my relationship with Him, I am excited and hopeful about the future of my children and our family.”

American Mothers seeks to strengthen the Moral and Spiritual Foundations of the Family and the Home.

American Mothers, Inc. is the official sponsor of Mother’s Day and Mother of the Year®. American
Mothers has honored a National Mother of the Year every year since 1935. In 1960, American Mothers began honoring a National Young Mother of the Year. These women are honored in recognition of their exceptional contributions to strengthening their home, family and community.

American Mothers of Nevada was organized in 1945, as part of the national organization, to meet the needs of Nevada’s mothers. American Mothers is an interfaith, non-political, non-profit organization for women and men who want to strengthen mothers and through their influence, strengthen society.
For more information visit www.AmericanMothers-NV.org.