Source: Margaret Presley, 785-826-2663, presleym@k-state.edu
News tip/hometown connection: Lindsborg andSalina.
Photo available: http://www.k-state.edu/media/images/apr12/mpresley.jpg
News release prepared by: Natalie Blair, 785-826-2642, nblair@k-state.edu
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
K-State Salina instructor is Smoky Hill region social worker of the year
SALINA -- Margaret Presley, instructor of social work at Kansas State University Salina, has been named the 2012 Social Worker of the Year by the Smoky Hill Association of Social Workers.
To be eligible for the award, the nominee must be currently providing professional social work services in central Kansas. Nominations can recognize ongoing professional excellence, highly competent practice under difficult or unusual circumstances, outstanding contributions to policy and practice, and service above and beyond the normal expectations of one's position.
Presley has worked in the social work field since 1970 and specializes in the area of child welfare. She is a member of the Kansas Council on Social Work Education and various boards and committees in the Lindsborg community. She also provides consultation on ethical issues for social workers in the community and conducts home studies of prospective adoptive families.
She has a master of social work from University of Kansas and a bachelor's in sociology from Kansas State University. She has served as both a board member and secretary for the Kansas chapter of National Association of Social Workers and has been honored by the National Association of Social Workers.
"It is amazing to think how many social workers Margaret has educated in the past 22 years at Bethany College and now at K-State Salina. She has taught many classes and counseled many students to look at social work as a profession," said Diana Shaft, president of the Smoky Hill Association of Social Workers.
The Smoky Hill Association of Social Workers promotes continuing education for social workers, a sense of community with an opportunity for social interaction and mutual support among social workers, professionalism among social workers, community recognition of social work as a profession, and opportunities for social justice and advocacy.
