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Grab your sparkliest tiara, blend your favorite fruity drink, and get ready to laugh and cry with the women of the Tiara Club. Georgia Elliott grew up in a small Gulf town full of Southern charm---and a superefficient grapevine---so the few secrets she's managed to keep are precious, including that she invented TV's hottest new kitchen gadget, the Miracle Chef. A second-generation beauty queen, Georgia turns to women she knows she can trust to keep her secret from her controlling society mama: the Tiara Club. All the members are veterans of the pageant circuit, but they've just admitted one woman who doesn't fit in---a Yankee who's never taped her breasts or smeared glue on her butt to wow the judges. And this year the Tiara Club is determined to help this outsider win the coveted Shrimp Queen crown. Add in an impending wedding and the club's attempts to keep Georgia's secret, and the women of the Tiara Club have to do all they can to hold on to their poise, their friendships, and their senses of humor.

Beverly was first settled by five men known as the Old Planters and was incorporated as a town in 1668. Its first minister, Rev. John Hale, was the author of an important work on the Salem witch hysteria. In 1775, the schooner Hannah, the first commissioned military vessel, sailed from Beverly Harbor. Privateers also sailed from here for their raids on enemy ships. In the 19th century, Beverlys Lucy Larcom wrote about life working in the cotton mills. The early 20th century attracted a wave of immigrants for the construction of the United Shoe Machinery Corporation and the development of the estates, beaches, and gardens of Beverlys Gold Coast. President Taft vacationed at present-day Lynch Park, and many visitors have come to Beverly for the North Shore Music Theatre and Le Grand David.

The purpose of this organizational review, undertaken by MPR Associates, Inc. at the request of Houston A+ Challenge (HA+C), is to enable the organization to take stock of its contribution to school reform in the Houston area after a decade of work and to examine its weaknesses and strengths as it makes plans for the future. To do this, MPR staff visited Houston A+ sites, examined relevant documents, and interviewed staff, Board members, and clients. They found that HA+C: (1) Has had a recognized and highly positive effect in the Houston-area education community; (2) Is known for being responsive, disseminating research, facilitating networks, and providing learning opportunities for students, teachers and administrators otherwise unavailable to them; (3) Operates according to a current mission and imperatives that are overly broad and not aligned; (4) Allows its mission to be defined by its activities rather than vice versa; (5) Has acquired a large, diverse portfolio of programs and initiatives that can be difficult to sustain; (6) Does not have a strong accountability system; and (7) Does not communicate its purposes or activities well, both internally and externally. To address these issues and position the organization for the future, the MPR staff suggest that HA+C: (1) Redefine its mission and focus to reflect its priorities clearly; (2) Develop a strong accountability system and a "culture of evidence" among staff and Board; (3)Implement a regular strategic planning process, including the use of accountability data, for making funding and programmatic decisions; (4) Consider documenting its work, planning to scale-up successful efforts, and terminating unsuccessful ones or those not congruent with the redefined mission; (5) Develop a plan to communicate its redefined mission and priorities to staff, Board, clients, funders, and the community at large; and (6) Examine the skills and expertise needed by staff and Board members as the organization moves ahead. Information about the methods used to conduct this research is available in the appendix. (Contains 1 figure and 3 footnotes.