Drake recognized as Kansas' National Distinguished Principal

Wednesday, November 1, 2006

Eugene Ware Principal Billie Jo Drake made the first of two recent visits to Washington D.C. last week to be honored as Kansas' 2006 National Distinguished Principal.

The event was conducted in association with the National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP) and was sponsored by AIG VALIC, a national leading provider of retirement plan services for profit and not-for-profit education, healthcare and government organizations and the NAESP.

This year's ceremony marked the 22nd year that the NAESP and the U.S. Department of Education has presented the National Distinguished Principal Award to the nation's leading principals.

"This honor and this ceremony was a result of me being named Principal of the Year in Kansas last year," Drake said.

At last week's ceremony, Executive Director of NAESP Dr. Vincent Ferrandino commended all of this year's honorees for being role models and for providing school leadership.

"Principals today face endless challenges," Ferrandino said. "As standards for student learning and teacher competency are raised, our school leaders keep expectations and morale high, often under the most difficult circumstances.

"The principals we honor today take the challenges in stride and with grace. Students and staff flourish because of their commitment and their success should be applauded."

About 60 principals were honored at last week's ceremony, which Drake said included various receptions and entertainment. Drake said the event culminated with a big celebration at the Capital Hilton, a historic hotel in downtown Washington D.C.

The principals considered for the National Distinguished Principal award are nominated by their peers based on their commitment to excellence and their contributions to guiding students, forging positive relationships with parents and serving their community with distinction. Each nominee must serve as a principal for at least five years to be eligible.

Criteria for the selection of the principals, established by NAESP and the U.S. Department of Education, require that the honorees are active principals of schools where programs are designed to meet the academic and social needs of all students and where there are firmly established community ties with parents and local business organizations.

Drake, who has served as Eugene Ware principal since 2000, drew praise for the introduction of parallel block scheduling at Eugene Ware, which allows for longer periods for intensive reading and writing instruction, while reducing reading group sizes to five or fewer. Drake implemented block scheduling in an effort to raise student achievement levels.

Drake has also lengthened teachers' daily planning time and reorganized faculty meetings to provide for group work to advance professional learning. In 2005, Drake's efforts were rewarded when Eugene Ware met the Kansas standard of excellence in both reading and math.

Her efforts were most recently rewarded when Eugene Ware was named one of five Kansas schools to obtain Blue Ribbon School status. Drake also recently became one of five principals in the United States to receive the Terrel H. Bell Award for School Leadership.

Drake will make a return trip to Washington D.C. on Nov. 9-10 to be honored for both the Blue Ribbon and Bell awards. Fourth grade teacher Jill Phillips will accompany Drake at next week's ceremony.

NAESP and the U.S. Department of Education started the National Distinguished Principal award program in 1984 to recognize public and private school principals who make superior contributions to their schools and communities.

The distinguished principals are selected by NAESP state affiliates, including the District of Columbia, and by committees representing private and overseas schools. NAESP represents 30,000 elementary and middle school principals in the U.S. and overseas.