A Letter from USBA's President, Peggy Jo Kennett

Our recent Leadership Academy was a great opportunity for professional development. Thanks to everyone who participated--presenters, attendees, and staff. If you were able to attend Leadership Academy, some of what you did there fulfills MBA requirements. So remember to go to the PowerUP link on the USBA website to update your Master Boards Award information.

The next opportunity for training/professional development are Regional Meetings. Those start on September 26 and go until October 15. The business portion of the meeting will cover: USBA Legislative priorities; State Board priorities; proposed changes to the USBA bylaws; and the MBA program. Please attend the meeting location that works best for you.

Many local school boards have been taking advantage of other services offered by USBA. Our Executive Director, Richard Stowell, does a great job of leading boards through a self evaluation and/or a Superintendent evaluation. You may want to consider scheduling one or both of these evaluations for your board.

Thanks for all that each of you do to help your local School Board become more relevant and effective!

2014 Utah Superintendent of the Year

The Utah School Superintendents Association (USSA) is pleased to announce the 2014 Utah School Superintendent of the Year. Terry E. Shoemaker, Superintendent of Wasatch County School District, was named the recipient of the award at a brief ceremony at the opening of the USSA meeting held Monday, September 9, 2013.

Supt. Shoemaker has been a public educator since 1979, serving students in three school districts in Utah; Jordan, Provo, and Wasatch County. He has been a classroom teacher, curriculum specialist, principal, personnel director, and was appointed by the Wasatch County Board of Education to be the Superintendent of Wasatch County School District in 2001.

Wasatch District has most recently adopted a 1:1 technology device initiative with all students in grades 5-8 receiving a laptop computer for use in school and for homework. The "Digital Conversion" initiative will include students in all grades by 2016. "As important as the access to computers is, the excellent digital curriculum and the job embedded professional development in digital friendly classrooms are critical to the success of Wasatch educators and students." Dr. Patti Harrington, Executive Director of the USSA, said of her colleague's work. Click here to read the full article.