Oregon Schools Chief Receives Top Honor: Susan Andrews ‘Disappointed,’ Credits Community for Nomination
By Harry Franklin, Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, Ga.
Mar. 3–Susan Andrews will return to Harris County on Sunday as a winner, even though she was not named National Superintendent of the Year at the National Conference on Education in New Orleans on Friday.
She still was one of four finalists in a nation with more than 14,000 public school superintendents.
Andrews, superintendent of Harris County Schools and 2006 Georgia Superintendent of the Year, said she is “disappointed, but all four finalists were very qualified. I just wish I had brought home that $10,000 scholarship for one of our students.”
She credits her school district, administrators, teachers, staff, students and parents who support the county schools with playing a significant role in her being named the state winner and reaching the finals at the national level.
The 20th annual winner, Krista Parent, superintendent of the South Lane School District, Cottage Grove, Ore., was announced at an awards ceremony during the conference, the largest annual gathering of superintendents in the United States. The winner gets to name a student to receive a $10,000 scholarship.
As one of four finalists, Andrews received a silver plaque and a $1,000 savings bond. This was the third-straight year the Georgia winner has been a finalist for the national honor; only four times has a Georgia educator reached the finals. The four finalists were interviewed in Washington in January.
Andrews, a home-grown educator who graduated from Harris County High School, has devoted her entire career to the county’s schools.
The competition is conducted annually by the American Association of School Administrators.
Contact Harry Franklin at 706-571-8521 or hfranklin@ledger-enquirer.com [mailto:hfranklin@ledger-enquirer.com]
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Copyright (c) 2007, Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, Ga.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.
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