Mr. Irvin Beard, a retired Navy pilot and Vice Principal of Glenwood Elementary School in Virginia Beach, Virginia, was presented the 1998 Director's Community Leadership Award at a meeting of the School Board of the City of Virginia Beach on January 5, 1999.

In 1996, Mr. Beard's strong community spirit lead him to volunteer for a major role in pioneering the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) "Neighborhood Networks" program in Virginia Beach. Beard, along with representatives from the Norfolk FBI, HUD, WHRO Public Broadcasting, NASA-Langley, the Virginia Beach Police Department and numerous Virginia Beach churches and businesses, established the HUD program in Virginia Beach's Friendship Village apartment complex. Fueled in large part by Irvin Beard's tenacity and vision, "Neighborhood Networks" offers residents of the government-subsidized apartment complex access to computers, training and opportunity.

In addition to committing time and skill into the project, Mr. Beard had more than 100 of his students get involved. For several years, he supervised and trained fifth-grade students in the "Troubleshooters Club" to repair the used computers donated to the schools and to Friendship Village.

Married and the father of three children, Irvin Beard was named Virginia Beach's Teacher of the Year for the 1995/1996 school year. He was also recognized by Microsoft Corporation in 1996 for the Schools on the Web contest in which he won a $10,000 grant for Virginia Beach Public Schools to promote computer literacy. He has served on Virginia Beach's Community Organization Grant Committee; Public Schools Safe Schools Task Force; the steering committee for Virginia Beach Public Schools Standards and Evaluations; as president of a 1500 family civic league organization and as a volunteer with his church and the Boys Scouts.

Visit HUD's Neighborhood Network Centers' website and the Friendship Village website for more information.