|  | | MESPA Home > Honors > MESPA Division Leadership Award > 2008 Awards |  | David J. Wangen, Northeast Division
 | | David J. Wangen, principal of Churchill Elementary School, Cloquet School District (ISD #94) |
David J. Wangen was nominated for the Northeast MESPA Division Leadership Achievement Award by his peers. In making the nomination, Jolene Landwer, principal of Greenway Elementary Schools in Coleraine, MN said, “David is an enthusiastic principal who is an asset to our profession. He is supportive of staff development opportunities for our principals and has readily volunteered his school as a host-training site. He is an excellent role model for all of the Northeast principals.”
Wangen believes “quality education is about fostering relationships with our students, their families and within our communities. Schools will achieve greater overall educational success once these relationships and positive histories are formed.”
In accepting the award, Wangen shared the three most significant accomplishments of his career. The first, he said, was “establishing a safe, supported, and high achieving school.” The second was “through my principalship at Churchill Elementary School, I feel I have helped create an environment for educators that is collegial, progressive, and research-based.” His third was recognition of Churchill Elementary School by MESPA as a 2002-2003 Minnesota School of Excellence “validating our efforts in providing excellence in education.” The Minnesota School of Excellence Program is a school improvement process developed and sponsored by MESPA, and recognized by the Minnesota Department of Education. It assesses six standards (leadership, vision, student learning, culture of adult learning, data and decision making, and community engagement) for quality elementary and middle level communities. Research has shown that if these six standards are evident in a school, best practices are being followed.
During his 13 years in the principalship, Wangen has actively served his colleagues in the MESPA Northeast Division in a variety of roles: representative to the Negotiations and Minnesota School of Excellence committees; division president-elect and then president -- a term of five years from 2003-08. He opened his school as a host-training site for his colleagues for the March 2007 Three Minute Walkthrough seminar sponsored by MESPA. In addition, to the MESPA Minnesota School of Excellence validation, other education honors received include the Excellence in Education Award (2005-06) and Certified Staff of the Year, Churchill Elementary School (2006-07).
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