Meet Fayetteville Public Schools newest inductees into the Hall of Honor

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) — The Fayetteville Public Schools Hall of Honor gained three new members today.

The Fayetteville Public School District and the Fayetteville Public Education Foundation began recognizing outstanding individuals in the community for their dedication to Fayetteville schools 27 years ago.

Today, the Hall of Honor’s three newest inductees were recognized and welcomed by past inductees at a luncheon today.

They will be officially inducted in the Hall of Honor on Thursday, October 3 at Fayetteville Public Library.

Here are the three newest inductees to the Hall of Honor.

Rita Caver

Rita was born in Little Rock, Arkansas and graduated from Hall High in 1971. She later attended the University of Arkansas, earning a bachelor’s degree in Social Welfare in 1975 and a Master’s degree in History in 1993.

She began teaching at Fayetteville High School in 1995. She became part of the infamous AP Block, which was renowned for its rigor and its ability to prepare students to take additional Advanced Placement classes.

She was the first teacher from Fayetteville High School to obtain National Board Certification, and she encouraged fellow faculty members to follow suit. She offered professional development at several national conferences as she was active in College Board activities.

Caver retired from Fayetteville Public Schools in 2016, and now serves on the board of directors of the Fayetteville Public Education Foundation. She currently participates in numerous volunteer activities with the Northwest Arkansas Master Naturalists.

Colonel Jim Chittenden

Col. Chittenden graduated from Fayetteville High School in 1987, and set his sights on serving his country.

He attended Duke University on an Air Force scholarship and earned an engineering degree in 1991.

Col. Chittenden distinguished himself with 25+ years of national security service during numerous impactful command tours and 265 combat sorties in fighter, bomber and remotely piloted aircraft. He has three master’s degrees with honors and is a Distinguished Graduate of every professional military education school he attended along with being an Air Force “Top Gun” graduate.

Jim deployed for Operation Enduring Freedom where he served as a strategic planner, in addition to flying, following the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center.

Later, in Europe, his vision was instrumental to the stand-up of the new AFRICOM command, and commanded the 556th Squadron, responsible for testing the Air Force’s newest remotely piloted aircraft. In his last assignment, he stood-up a new unit that directed global unmanned aircraft operations on behalf of the Secretary of Defense.

Col. Chittenden is a graduate of the Vegas Chamber of Commerce Leadership Las Vegas, Military Affairs committee members, President of Duke Las Vegas and a Boy Scouts Outreach Community volunteer. Recently, he helped bring an aviation center with 100+ high-tech jobs to the city of Las Vegas.

His mother, Barbara Prichard, is a career educator and his father, Doug also served in the military. For Jim, military service is about being part of something bigger than himself to help shape futures for the better.

Max Mahler

Max graduated from Fayetteville High School in 2005, and later earned a bachelor’s degree in Financial Management and Investments from the University of Arkansas in 2009.

He also completed his MBA from the university in 2013. During his MBA program, he co-founded Now Diagnostics in Springdale.

At 24, Mahler co-founded the Spark Foundation, which has raised over $3 million and hosts the Cow Paddy Run and Hero Half Marathon. The foundation’s scholarship with the Fayetteville Public Education Foundation has enabled over 1,000 children to participate in the Cow Paddy Run at no cost.

Max led the “Friends of Gulley Park” initiative, raising $1.2 million for land preservation and earning the group the Volunteer Group of the Year award in 2015 from the Arkansas Parks and Recreation Association.

Mahler studied to become a Certified Financial Planner at New York University in 2015. Forbes Magazine recognized him as a Top Next Gen advisor in 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024.

Forbes also named Mahler as a “Best in State” advisor for the past three years, as well as being named to the “Forty Under Forty” list by Northwest Arkansas Business Journal in 2023.

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