*In this photo:* Dr. Reba Hollingsworth (in the red hat on the right side of the sign) is joined by students of the DSU Early College High School, as its counseling center is named after her.

On Campus

Dr. Reba Hollingsworth Honored by Early College HS

Thursday, August 3, 2017

The Early College High School (ECHS) at Delaware State University took time out to honor Dr. Reba Hollingsworth, an alumna of both the former DSC Laboratory High School and Delaware State College.

More than 200 people showed up for the ECHS’s Honoring Our Legacy Luncheon on July 29 to celebrate the life of Dr. Hollingsworth as well as raise money for DSU’s college preparatory high school.

For the ECHS, Dr. Hollingsworth represented a link of excellence between the earlier high school and the current one.

“Dr. Hollingsworth exemplifies that legacy by being a vivid reminder of what it took to be successful in the past and what it takes to be successful now,” said Dr. Marshá Horton, president of the ECHS Board of Directors. “She attended high school and college at Delaware State College and excelled at every level.”

Many others spoke at the event expressing their admiration for her contributions to the community and accomplishments in life. The highlight was the announcement of the naming of the Dr. Reba Ross Hollingsworth Counseling Center at the ECHS.

“When they presented the name of the counseling center, it just took my breath away,” Dr. Hollingsworth said. “I felt very blessed and honored by it, and I was very much surprised that they did that.”

Dr. Hollingsworth, a native of Milford, Del. and a longtime resident of Dover, graduated from the DSC Laboratory High School in 1945. She then earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Home Economics in 1949 from then-Delaware State College. She later earned a 1970 Master of Education degree in Guidance and Counseling from the University of Delaware, as well as a 2001 Ph.D. in Counseling from Pacific Western University in Los Angeles, Calif.

She began her teaching career in 1954 at William C. Jason Comprehensive High School in Georgetown, where she taught home economics and science. After 12 years at Jason H.S., Dr. Hollingsworth became a guidance counselor at Dover High School.

Among her diverse pursuits, Dr. Hollingsworth has been an overseas travel study counselor, an adjunct professor, a counseling practicum supervisor, and along with her late husband Dr. Berlin Hollingsworth, she was co-owner of Hollingsworth & Hollingsworth Consultant Services, which specialized in pre-marriage counseling and parliamentary procedure workshops and training sessions.