The Mountain Home Area Chamber of Commerce hosted its second annual State of Education Breakfast this morning at Arkansas State University-Mountain Home (ASUMH). The event took place in the Trout Room at the Vada Sheid Community Development Center on South College Street, with breakfast served at 7:30 a.m. and presentations beginning at 8 a.m.
The free event was open to the public and featured updates on local education from three prominent speakers: ASUMH Chancellor Bentley Wallace, Mountain Home Public Schools Superintendent Allyson Dewey, and Mountain Home Christian Academy Administrator Doyne Byrd. The breakfast was sponsored by NEXT Powered by NAEC.
This forum is part of the Chamber’s “State of” series, which debuted last year and has addressed topics including healthcare, city and county government, real estate, and tourism. At the inaugural education breakfast in August 2025, Superintendent Dewey highlighted that Mountain Home students had outperformed state ACT and standardized test averages, while Administrator Byrd announced Mountain Home Christian Academy’s full accreditation by Cognia, which enables families to use LEARNS Act Educational Freedom Accounts.
This year’s breakfast offered a fresh opportunity for community members to hear from local education leaders about successes and challenges in their institutions. Individuals with questions were encouraged to contact the Chamber at 870-425-5111 for further information.
The Chamber requested attendees register in advance through a provided link. Additional coverage of the 2026 presentations is expected to follow.