The finalists for this year’s honor are:


PRINCIPAL FINALISTS
Plantation Park Elementary School principal Helen Akers has been an educator for more than 30 years – the past five as a principal in Broward County. In her years in education, the one thing Ms. Akers has done is set high standards – not only for her students and staff, but for herself as well.

She has worked to provide students, faculty, staff and parents a clear idea of the direction she has planned for her school and keeps them all engaged in the process of increasing achievement. Under her leadership, Plantation Park Elementary has risen from a “D” to and “A” school. She created “leadership teams” that monitor how the school is doing and address needs as soon as they are identified.

She helped create writing camps as well as after school and Saturday school opportunities for students who needed that little extra “boost” academically. And she began to group students based on academic performance so teachers can better provide the immediate, intensive intervention needed to help the children succeed.


Spend a few moments with Marion Ann Fee and you’ll quickly see one thing – she is passionate about literacy. The Lakeside Elementary School principal routinely reads with students and parents and she continually encourages them to pick up a book and read and write.

Every April, her school participates in the “Writing on the Walls” program and Lakeside Elementary is a summer site for the South Florida Writing Project Summer Camp Program. Under her guidance, Lakeside Elementary has increased student achievement by implementing after school FCAT reading and math camps and using part-time reading resource teachers. This intensive focus on reading and math has helped her school earn an “A” grade from the state five years in a row.

One of Ms. Fee’s strengths is her ability to work with parents with patience and understanding. Her school has students from many different cultural backgrounds and she has raised helping parents from all over the globe understand the educational process to an art form.


Sherry Patire began her educational career as an elementary school teacher. Over the years, she worked her way up and is now the principal of Seminole Middle School in Plantation. At every step of her professional career, one thing has remained constant – her ability to find and implement innovative teaching methods to increase student achievement.

At Seminole Middle, she works hard to provide guidance and direction for her students and staff, and it shows. The school received an “A” grade from the state for three consecutive years and 64 percent of the school’s ESE and ESOL clusters are making learning gains. Ms. Patire knows no school can do it alone, and she has worked hard to create meaningful partnerships over the years. One such collaboration is with Humana, where they began a wellness program where students are taught the importance of living a healthy lifestyle. For Ms. Patire, educating the whole student is the key.



ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL FINALISTS:
Wendy Galinsky has spearheaded a number of projects while the Assistant Principal at Davie Elementary School. She helps provide support for students who are not at grade level by coordinating tutoring services with Nova Southeastern University through the America Counts/America Reads program.

She also works with Broward Community College to provide classroom support for her students via the Federal Work Experience Program. This is where BCC students work with individual and small groups of children to help raise student achievement. Ms. Galinsky worked hard to help paraprofessionals at Davie Elementary meet No Child Left Behind guidelines, and recruited teachers to help with remediation (so far, 85 percent of the paraprofessionals have meet the NCLB mandate.)

Thanks to her quick thinking and ability to get things done right, she continues to further the vision and mission of Davie Elementary and she has brought a new dimension to the school. She excels at analyzing test data, developing curriculum, integrating technology and cultivating positive relationships with parents, students and staff.


Claudia McGrath is willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done. As the assistant principal of Virginia Shuman Young Elementary School in Fort Lauderdale, she has demonstrated excellent leadership skills and has a deep understanding of curriculum issues.

Ms. McGrath is a firm believer in using data to bring about positive change, and after identifying learner needs, she set about creating a “master schedule” that places students together based on their strengths and weakness in order to focus instruction to increase achievement.

She works well, no matter who is involved. From working with preschoolers to fifth-graders, from parents to staff, she has the ability to build camaraderie and has earned the trust of all. She makes it a point to be “highly visible” and her open door policy – for students, staff, partners and parents – has helped create a positive school climate.


When you look at Elaine Saef, the assistant principal at Panther Run Elementary School in Pembroke Pines, you ask yourself what hasn’t she done.

She has worked to build a school community that supports learning and growth for everyone. She hires, evaluates, mentors and maintains high quality staff who all work to help students succeed. Ms. Saef has developed partnerships with 25 companies that provide a variety of support to the school’s educational programs. And she implemented an Acaletics Math Program (grades 2-5) that emphasizes “mind math” and state-of-the-art teaching methods to hone student skills.

For Ms. Saef, student achievement is Priority 1. Through her tireless efforts, Panther Run Elementary achieved Adequate Yearly Progress, an “A” grade from the state; the Golden School Award, Five Star School Award, National Association of Elementary School Principals Honor Council Award and the prestigious Little Red Schoolhouse Award.