When Kathy Ann Coll, of Ross, retired last year, perhaps someone should have told her what the word "retired" meant. Mrs. Coll, may no longer be in the classroom, but the former teacher at North Allegheny Intermediate High School is still active with the state and national association of student council advisers.

In fact, she is still so involved that her efforts for the past 25 years earned her the 2007-08 Warren E. Shull National High School Advisor of the Year award, presented recently by the National Association of Student Councils for her last year as a teacher.

"I love working with the students and this work [with the state and national organizations] keeps me connected with the kids," she said.

Mrs. Coll, 57, is a former 9th- and 10th-grade English and leadership education teacher in North Allegheny School District.

One of her students, Courtney Quisenberry, nominated Mrs. Coll for the honor. "I didn't even know she had nominated me until I found out that I had won on the state level," said Mrs. Coll.

There were a number of steps in the process until Mrs. Coll found herself, with the other finalists on stage, at the national conference in Denver in late June.

"They started announcing the award by saying things like, 'The winner is a student council adviser,' and 'He or she likes working with kids.' Of course, all of these things fit all of us," she said. But when the announcer started mentioning the winner's qualifications, including leading more than 200 youngsters in the student council and 11 officers, she figured out she had won. "I knew that nobody else had a council that large," she said.

In addition to the honor of receiving the award, Mrs. Coll won $500 and a plaque.

"It is the Warren E. Shull plaque and [it] is just beautiful. What was the coolest thing, is that I got to meet Warren Shull back in 1988 or 1989, so it meant so much more," she said.

Mrs. Coll referred to the man for whom the award is named, and who founded the national association, the late Warren E. Shull, an Oklahoma high school student council president. The award recognizes high school and middle level student council advisers for leadership and commitment to students and student leaders.

After receiving her award, Mrs. Coll pursued one of her other favorite activities --travel -- and visited her son, Edward, in Colorado. Mrs. Coll and her late husband used to organize high adventure trips and she still organizes trips for students through the Pennsylvania Association of Student Councils (PASC). "I organize one trip a year for students going to the national conference. I want the kids to experience the area so we will do outdoor things that may be relevant to that particular location or get into the historical aspects and visit a museum," she said.

Mrs. Coll also remains involved in teaching leadership classes and programming through the Pennsylvania association and will assist with their weeklong conference this week at the Pitt-Johnstown campus.

In addition, she has a new interest. She and her sons, Edward and Erik, will travel to South Africa in early August to learn more about a community center that they are hoping to assist with creating and funding.

"There is so much need there and we look at is as a new opportunity for us," she said.

Mrs. Coll plans to continue her work with students and she encourages other teachers to get involved with student councils.

"I know this sounds like a commercial but we need to get young advisers involved with the students and get [the advisors] to stay in it for more than one or two years. There are a lot of resources through PASC and it is a great network. I would plea with them to stick with it.

"These students are wonderful. I have found that when you empower them, amazing things will happen," she said.