Mount Ayr Record-News
Mount Ayr, Ringgold County, Iowa
Thursday, April 11, 2013

A county resident has been named a finalist for the 2013 Iowa Elementary Principal of the Year Award by the School Administrators of Iowa (SAI).

Amy (WALKUP) WHITTINGTON, elementary principal at Central Decatur in Leon, was nominated by her peers and chosen as one of three state finalists for the honor.

"There are great principals working throughout the state to improve and reform education," said WHITTINGTON, "and to be recognized by them as a leader and innovator is a tremendous honor!"

A 1996 graduate of Mount Ayr high school, WHITTINGON lives on a farm east of Diagonal with her husband J.P. and children Alaina, eight, and Owen, five.

Elementary principal in the Central Decatur Community school district since 2009, WHITTINGTON previously served as the elementary principal at Clearfield and as a special education teacher at Mount Ayr. While teaching at Mount Ayr, WHITTINGTON said she began taking graduate classes and decided administration would allow her to continue to develop leadership skills and remain connected to students.

"I have always wanted to be a teacher," she said, "and love watching the moment when learning connects for kids!"

She graduated from Drake University in 2005 with a Masters in Ed Administration and in 2009 with a Specialist Degree in Ed Leadership.

"One of the great things about working in smaller rural districts - like Mount Ayr, Clearfield, and Central Decatur is the opportunity to be involved in all aspects of a school system," she said. "More urban districts have additional layers of central office staff who supervise various departments and responsibilities, and can limit the influence of the building principal."

WHITTINGTON credits her up-bringing in Ringgold county for the work ethic she brings to her profession.

"Will Smith says, in order to be successful, you have to a have 'killer work ethic' which I think I developed growing up on a farm and being involved in almost every organization available to me in high school," she said. "Education today places big demands on students, teachers, and administrators, and we have to be willing to worklong and hard to help all studentsreach their potential. I feel one of my primary responsibilities as aprincipal is to help buffer students and teachers from the politics and state and federal initiatives, so that they can concentrate on the real work of teaching and learning."

In 2011, Central Decatur received the State Board of Education Breaking Barriers Award for increasing student achievement in fourth and eighth grade.

WHITTINGTON shared, "I am excited about the work we have done in the elementary to increase our overall student achievement. We have streamlined our intervention process and increased the use of research-based strategies for improvement."

Central Decatur was recently awarded a $3.5 million TIF grant to implement TAP, a system for Teacher and Student Advancement over the next four years.

"This is an exciting time to be an educator, and Central Decatur is proud to pilot the TAP system in Iowa," she said. "We see it as a way to bring all the components of teacher and student improvement together in away that makes sense."

After interview sessions with the three finalists, SAI eventually named Lucas DeWITT of Spencer as the 2013 Principal of the Year.

All finalists will be recognized at SAI's Annual Conference August 7 in Des Moines.

"We are pleased to recognize school leaders who are committed to excellence in education and serve as role models of learning in their communities," said Dr. Dan Smith, SAI executive director.

SAI, a state wide organization founded in 1987, represents more than 1,800 Iowa educational administrators. SAI's mission is to enhance PreK-12 education through effective leadership by school administrators.

Transcription by Sharon R. Becker, April of 2013