Kohala High School Principal Janette Snelling earned high honors Friday night being named a semifinalist in the 2012 Masayuki Tokioka Excellence in School Leadership Awards.
Kohala High School Principal Janette Snelling earned high honors Friday night being named a semifinalist in the 2012 Masayuki Tokioka Excellence in School Leadership Awards.
Snelling, in her first year at the helm of Kohala High School, received $2,000 in addition to the semifinalist honor during Island Insurance Companies’ eighth annual Masayuki Tokioka Excellence in School Leadership Awards program held on Oahu.
Kauai’s Koloa Elementary School Principal Debra Lindsey received the top award along with $25,000, according to the Island Insurance Foundation, the business’ charitable arm. The award will be given in $10,000 cash and $15,000 for a school project of her choice. Oahu’s Niu Valley Middle School Principal Justin Mew was also named a semifinalist.
The award, named after Island Insurance Companies founder Masayuki Tokioka, is presented to a public school principal who is visionary, community-minded and has an entrepreneurial spirit, according to the foundation. It is administered by the Public Schools Foundation of Hawaii, a nonprofit aimed at strengthening the quality of public education.
Kohala Elementary School Principal Danny Garcia said before the event that Snelling is deserving of the honor. She has poised the Kapaau high school to again achieve Adequately Yearly Progress, a measure by which schools, districts and states are held accountable for student performance, he said. The school last made the mark in 2010.
Prior to taking the high school’s helm, Snelling was principal of Kohala Middle School, which made Adequate Yearly Progress throughout her three-year tenure, he said.
“But, that represents only a part of what she’s about,” said Garcia, who also wrote Snelling a recommendation letter for the award. “She’s a motivator, leader, friend, counselor — everything wrapped up into one package that’s exactly what you want in a public school principal.”
Snelling has worked for the state Department of Education for 25 years, including 14 years spent as a counselor, four years as a vice principal, three years as a middle school principal and one year as a high school principal, according to the foundation. West Hawaii Today was unable to reach Snelling as of press time Friday.
She also introduced the Advancement Via Individual Determination program to the Kohala Complex, tying together the middle and high schools to focus on college readiness. Snelling has also written grants to provide the school with a variety of afterschool reading and math programs, according to the foundation.
Snelling was one of 11 principals across the state nominated for the award. Criteria considered were the principal’s ability to create a focus on learning, build professional communities that value learning, engage external environments that contribute to learning, act strategically and share leadership, and manage improvement activities based on student performance.
For more information on the program, visit islandinsurance.com/AboutUs/Principal.asp.