School & District Management

Leaders To Learn From 2016 Nominations Are Open

By Tiara Beatty — June 10, 2015 2 min read
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Nominations are open for Education Week‘s Leaders To Learn From, an annual special report acknowledging forward-thinking district leaders who have made successful and lasting impacts on students and education.

Leaders To Learn From recognizes top district leaders across the country in K-12 education. Education Week is asking its readers to nominate outstanding leaders in their districts to be recognized and share their successes with their colleagues in education.

Leaders are acknowledged for their achievements in their area of expertise, such as academic expectations, career pathways, educational technology, student nutrition and more.

Leaders To Learn From 2015 recognized Superintendent Tiffany Anderson from the Jennings school district in Jennings, Mo., for her achievement in community schools. Anderson established food pantries, free clothing boutiques and a health clinic in the schools to help meet her students’ basic needs.

“The school is the center of the community,” Anderson said. “And if we’re the center of the community then we have a responsibility to our community to make sure that our community has what they need to survive.” Since Anderson became superintendent in 2012, the district, which has struggled academically and financially, has been moving toward full accreditation.

In 2013, Leaders To Learn From recognized Superintendent Clark Hults from Newcomb Central School District in New York. To help bolster student enrollment in his shrinking district, Hults recruited international students to enroll, allowing their tuition to bolster the district’s budget.

The program has grown and created diversity in the school district. In addition, Hults and his wife have hosted many students over the years.

“Students when they come, they come as kind of foreigners but in no time at all they really do become a part of our school and community,” Hults said.

Leaders To Learn From holds an annual event in Washington bringing together over 150 influential educators. Each year, the leaders are able to share their successes with other educators in the hopes of aiding other districts in solving similar problems.

Education Week accepts nominations for outstanding achievement at the district level. If you would like to nominate a district leader, please click here. All nominations are due by August 1, 2015.

Photo credit: Tiffany Anderson, superintendent in Jennings, Mo. -- Swikar Patel

A version of this news article first appeared in the District Dossier blog.