Assistant Principal Aidan Vigil was born and mostly raised in Fairfax, Virginia—except for a few formative years in Honduras, where his father was stationed with the CIA. In high school, Aidan played varsity football and soccer and was deeply inspired by his coaches.
At Wilson Avenue School in Newark, NJ, where Margarita Hernandez-Abeigon has been principal for 18 years, 75% of the students come from Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, El Salvador, and Peru. Several are also from Spain and Portugal, with 25% from Brazil.
Koni Grimsrud, Director of Student Services for Rochester, MN, Public Schools, believes she can bring more student-centered, trauma-informed, and responsive practices to her schools. She also maintains an unusually upbeat perspective on the times in which we are living.
San Francisco wasn’t the tech powerhouse it is today when Principal Dina Edwards was growing up there in the 1980s. Her family lived in Oceanview, Merced, Ingleside (OMI), and made a living through hard work. Her mother, Charlotte, was a paraeducator at St.
New York City school leader Dale Kelly says, “I can reel off the names of every teacher I had from kindergarten through fifth grade at P.S. 269” in Brooklyn. It never occurred to him that not a single one of them was Black in a community school where all the students were Black.
As a teenager, Principal Sasha Scott of Chula Vista, California, dreamed of being a marine biologist, a dolphin trainer and of living on a boat. A teen athlete who played basketball, softball and volleyball, she benefited from outstanding coaches and discovered she was a born coach herself.
As a student at Benjamin N. Cardozo High School in Queens, New York, W. Charles Brandy discovered the writing of James Baldwin and says, “He opened my eyes to the suffering that often went along with being a Black American.” As a West African from Liberia, he recalls, “I was different.
As a teacher of history, government and law at Forest Park High School in Baltimore, Darrin Brozene discovered that “if students connect with you, you can push them to excel.”
When Zulema Naegele thinks of her childhood, she says being an educator was far from her mind. The eldest of five children raised in Mesa, Arizona, she never dreamed that one day she would teach and then become a high school principal.
Staten Island Technical High School has a lot going for it, not least of all enthusiastic and loyal staff members like Assistant Principal Noelle Sanguinedo, a member of the Council of School Supervisors & Administrators, AFSA Local 1.
Jasmin Harding’s father Newell Hendricks-Harding was a guitar player who looked, sounded, dressed like and swore he was related to the celebrated musician Jimi Hendrix, and her mother Mary Freitas was a homemaker who raised four children.
The women in Chicago Principal Kia Banks’ life had a profound influence on her younger self. Her formidable mother Cynthia Rayford, her first inspiration, worked as an adult literacy expert and also managed a blended family of five children.
It took James Allrich 15 attempts to be appointed a principal, but in the end, he was named Maryland’s Principal of the Year by the National Association of Secondary School Principals and a Washington Post Principal of the Year finalist.
“It was an out-of-body experience,” is the way Principal Carolynn Walsleben describes receiving the highest honor available for a Montgomery County, Maryland, school leader.
“Who are you?” a 4-year-old boy asked Sedrick Smith when he and his little classmates entered the principal’s office on a recent pre-K tour of Fallstaff Elementary/Middle School in Baltimore.
Leadership might look easy for Dr. Patricia Magaña, with her open nature and family approach to her principal responsibilities at Palomar Elementary School in Chula Vista, California.
There are days when Justin Holbrook, principal of Armistead Gardens Elementary/Middle School in Baltimore City and a member of the Public School Administrators & Supervisors Association of Baltimore City, AFSA Local 25, misses the classroom, but he deeply cares about inspiring his teachers.
Donna McGuire, a member of the Council of School Supervisors & Administrators (CSA), AFSA Local 1 in New York City, was named one of 27 2023 National Outstanding Assistant Principals by the the National
“I’m an adventurer,” says Doreen Seaman, assistant principal at P.S. 57 on Staten Island. She brings plenty of enthusiasm to that job and to every other aspect of her life. Her three greatest fun enthusiasms are the New York Mets, travel, and shoes.
Drafted straight out of a South Bronx school where he was teaching music in the late 1950s, Herb Gardner found himself on a bus to Fort Dix, New Jersey, and a meteoric trajectory to a career in music and education that spans well over half a century.
Julie Garcia has worked in education for more than 26 years, as a middle school math teacher for 20 of those years. “Technology changed the way my students learned,” Garcia said. “I’ve always been passionate about how technology helped meet the needs of all my students.”
Every year the Varkey Foundation awards the Global Teacher Prize to one deserving school educator. The $1 million prize is to be used however the winner sees fit.
The role of a principal has changed immensely over time. Principals not only play a role in student discipline in their schools, but also are responsible for serving as a teacher evaluator and mentor.
Although PS 55 is located in one of the poorest communities—with one of the highest recorded crime rates in the Bronx—it has an abundance of state-of-the art education assets, such as classrooms equipped with the latest technology, and full-service clinics.
Yolanda Jones-Generette, a member of School Administrators Association of New Haven, AFSA Local 18, exemplifies being a hardworking leader with many accomplishments during her 22 years of serving the New Haven Public Schools district.
On the desk of Middle School 53’s principal is a row of Superman collectibles. However, teachers, parents and students have come to realize the real Superman sits behind that desk, not on it.
“Mrs. Jones demonstrates deep devotion to the success of every student” is the statement echoed by many at Bonnie Branch Middle School in Ellicott City, Maryland.
AFSA loves to showcase our members making great achievements. AFSA is honoring a deserving member of our organization, Winston Barrington Johnson, a member of Hartford Principals’ and Supervisors’ Association (HPSA), AFSA Local 22.
A mother, pastor and a principal, Cheryl Ault-Barker can do it all. She is currently the principal of Thaddeus Stevens P.S. 81 in Brooklyn, New York, and member of Council of School Supervisors & Administrators, AFSA Local 1.
It takes true dedication and commitment to both serve and be an active member of your community. Dr. Iline P. Tracey, member of School Administrators Association of New Haven (Connecticut), AFSA Local 18, exemplifies just that.
Jasmin Harding’s father Newall Hendricks Harding was a guitar player who looked, sounded, dressed like and swore he was related to the celebrated musician Jimi Hendrix, and her mother Mary Frietas was a homemaker who raised four children.
