Luckey honored at national event
(Courtesy photo) Idaho Hill Elementary Principal Susie Luckey was honored as Idaho’s National Distinguished Principal during an event in Washington, D.C. in October. Prior to the event, principals were instructed to ask their students what they thought principals did and then send in the materials. One student drew a portrait of Luckey, which Luckey is pictured by as it was displayed in the hotel in Washington, D.C.
(Courtesy photo) Idaho Hill Elementary Principal Susie Luckey, right, was honored as Idaho's National Distinguished Principal during an event in Washington, D.C. in October.
PRIEST RIVER — The theme of Susie Luckey’s speech as she was honored as Idaho’s National Distinguished Principal in Washington, D.C., in October could be summed up in two mottos.
The Idaho Hill Elementary principal said the mottos she focused on were, “The problem begins when we forget we belong to each other,” and “Everybody is somebody.”
“I think the highlight for me in this whole event was they had a guest speaker who summed up the event, and he actually used some of the snippets from the principals’ speeches, and he used mine — that we all belong to each other,” Luckey proudly told West Bonner County School District board members during the Nov. 21 meeting.
The NDP program was established by the National Association of Elementary School Principals in 1984 to recognize elementary and middle level principals who set high standards for instruction, student achievement, character, and climate for the students, families,and staff in their learning communities, according to naesp.org. To be chosen as a National Distinguished Principal, a nominee must show evidence of “outstanding contributions to the community and to the education profession.”
Upon their arrival for the big event in Washington, D.C., the NDPs stayed at the Capitol Hilton, Luckey said, where they could look down the street and see the White House and the Washington Monument. The group included 62 principals as there was one from each state, as well as private school and international school winners. Each principal had to bring a memento from their state, Luckey said, and when some of the folks from Priest Lake Elementary heard about the task of needing 80 such items, they were up to the challenge. They handmade clay Idaho ornaments, and then had the students at Idaho Hill paint them. In return, Luckey received a memento from each of the other NDPs.
“We had so much stuff that when we left, we had to send it home FedEx,” Luckey said.
The group visited the White House while they were in the capital, of course, as well as the U.S. Department of Education.
The formal NDP celebration was held Friday, Oct. 12, where they had dinner and received their awards. With their awards, Luckey said, they were each given a bell and at the end of the ceremony, they unwrapped their bells and rang them all in unison.
Luckey was nominated for NDP by West Bonner County School District Superintendent Paul Anselmo, who said Luckey “continues to be a model for what an educator should strive to be.”
“It was very fun, so thank you for nominating me and believing in me,” Luckey told Anselmo during the recent meeting. “I guess I learned in this that all the principals, it doesn’t matter where you are ... everybody really has a heart for kids, and we all have challenges and success stories.”
Luckey has worked in every elementary school in the district since beginning her career as a kindergarten teacher at Priest River Elementary in 1984. She served as assistant principal at Priest Lake Elementary before landing the job as principal of Idaho Hill.
Each elementary school in the district has its own “unique culture,” Luckey told the Daily Bee when she was initially chosen as Idaho’s NDP in March. She is fortunate, she said, to have had the opportunity to work at all three. She is also the district homeless liaison through the federal Title I program, allowing her to work with all of the teachers in the district.
Mary Malone can be reached by email at mmalone@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow her on Twitter @MaryDailyBee.