Clark receives high honor

May 22, 2009 • written by Katerina Voronova, Staff Writer  
Filed under News

        After years of hard work and dedication to West Fargo High School, Principal Gary Clark has been awarded North Dakota Principal of the Year.

        The Principal of the Year award is sponsored by the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) and the North Dakota Association of Secondary School Principals (NDASSP), which are  professional organizations representing all secondary school principals. The NASSP and the NDASSP ensure the best possible education system for students and give principals education, training and support for the work they do.

        “We work very hard to make the legislation good for the kids and the state,” Clark said.

        The North Dakota Association of Secondary School Principals is responsible for selecting one of their members from the association in North Dakota to nominate for the award. Each of the six regions in North Dakota nominates one person, one of whom receives the award for the state.

        The choice is based on forward thinking of a principal, their planning and improvement of their school, leadership, changes and progress within a school district and their efforts for education in general.

        “Mr. Clark is a great choice as he has all of the necessary characteristics and is a leader among high school principals in the state,” Valley City High School principal Kim Knodle said. “He has a sense of humor and the ability to express his views very clearly. He is very well respected across the state for his work at West Fargo High School and education in general in North Dakota.”

         Each state selects the candidate individually, who then goes to Washington, D.C. to meet the other principals from other states to learn and share experiences.

        Clark has been active in the NDASSP, serving as a chairperson in the southeast of the state and was elected president last year.

        Clark is the first high school principal in West Fargo to ever be chosen Principal of the Year. The only other principal who won this award was Assistant Superintendent Louise Dardis, who was an elementary school principal in 1998.

        Clark said he was very honored to win this award and that it was a reflection of the support he got from the West Fargo community.

        “Any kind of award like this is really reflective of all the support the principal gets from great teachers, a great student body and great administrators,” Clark said.