Andrew Lindsay named Michigan Outstanding Assistant Principal

Owen Intermediate School Assistant Principal Andrew Lindsay has been named the top assistant principal in the state of Michigan for 2019.
At the April 29 regular meeting of the Van Buren Public Schools Board of Education, Paul Liabenow, Executive Director of the Michigan Elementary and Middle School Principals Association, was present to present Lindsay with a trophy.
Also present was MEMSPA Associate Executive Director Syndee Malek.
Liabenow said now Lindsay will travel to Spokane, Washington, in July, cost free, to represent the state of Michigan at the NAESP National Outstanding Assistant Principal Awards Program.
Lindsay was nominated by Karen Mida, who said she and William Houston had hired him as a teacher at Owen years ago and now her grandchild is in his care.
Lindsay has been the assistant principal at Owen for five years, since earning his Master of Science-Education in Educational Leadership from Arkansas State University.
He also has a Master of Arts in Middle School Curriculum and Instruction from Eastern Michigan University.
The focus of the MEMSPA/Williams & Company Outstanding Assistant Principal Award is to promote educational excellence for pre-kindergarten through eighth-grade schooling and calls attention to the fundamental importance of the assistant principal.
“Mr. Lindsay devotes a great deal of time with teachers and how to improve instruction,” Liabenow said. “He devotes his time to the work that truly matters, supporting and helping teachers help students. At Owen Intermediate he is known for more than just being an assistant principal. He is a leader, parent, coach, teacher, visionary, listener, organizer, friend, supporter, manager, role model and much more.”
“This comes out of passion for the kids,” Lindsay said in accepting the award.
In other business at Monday’s meeting, the school board:
• Approved paying $150,054.81 from the Sinking Fund for media center furniture for McBride Middle School and Owen Intermediate School, whose media centers are being renovated this summer;
• Approved the Schools of Choice program participation for the first semester of the 2019-20 school year with an unlimited number of openings;
• Heard Board Vice President Susan Featheringill go over the first reading of updated board policies, as recommended by NEOLA, concerning the use of websites, the internet, personal communications devices, and associated topics. Karen Johnston is the required Web Accessibility Coordinator. The updates will be voted on for adoption at an upcoming meeting;
• Approved a cooperative education program agreement with Wayne-Westland Community Schools to permit certain Van Buren students to receive vocational education at Wayne-Westland from July 1, 2019 through June 30, 2020. School Supt. Pete Kudlak said one quarter of Van Buren Schools’ state aid for each participating student will go to Wayne-Westland each semester, adding up to half the state aid for each student each year. There also is a $50 charge per student and VBPS provides transportation to the program. He said the students spend half a day there, so they get half of the state money. “It’s not a money-maker for them or us,” he said. He said a tour of the William D. Ford Career Technical Center of Wayne-Westland is planned to leave Belleville at 8:45 a.m., May 6, and several board members signed up to go;
• Approved eight students, grades 10-12, to travel Feb. 21-25, 2020, to the National Dance Championship in Orlando, FL, to compete as a team on a national varsity level and to take classes with peers from across the nation, taught by choreographers and instructors that have been successful on a national level. The request was made by Stephanie Simons, who told the board the dancers will make them proud. The team is expected to follow behavioral rules in the district’s Athletic Handbook;
• Approved the employment of Keith Schenavar as Accountant at the Administration Building. He is already employed at the Ad Building in Payroll and is moving up to take the position vacated by Sara Cortese when she was named Finance Director. His former position is being posted;
• Approved the resignation of Kevin Danner from a non-instruction staff position at Belleville High School on April 12, after less than a year of service;
• Heard Supt. Kudlak announce that the district has a common calendar from Wayne RESA, which they plan five years in advance. He said starting the 2020-2021 school year, spring break will be the last week of March instead of the first week of April due to scheduling problems with the SAT tests;
• Heard Kudlak say there was an incident at McBride Middle School where a student made a poor choice in online use. He said that is something all parents have to check. He said he went home and checked his sons’ devices, something he hadn’t done in a long time;
• Heard the Senior Walk is scheduled for May 22 and graduation is May 30 at Eastern Michigan University; and
• Heard School Board Member Amy Pearce praise BHS student Natalie Pestano for her care and concern for other students during the recent band trip to Carnegie Hall in New York City. Pearce was along as a chaperone.