Lee Pulaski, lpulaski@wolfrivermedia.com
SUSAN LONGMIRE
(Editor’s note: This is the first of two stories featuring local winners of the Herb Kohl Educational Foundation Scholarship and Fellowship program.)
Susan Longmire just considers herself to be a normal person.
The Herb Kohl Educational Foundation seems to disagree. It is giving the principal of St. James Lutheran School a newly established Leadership Award to prove it.
Longmire is one of 16 principals to get the 2016 award and the only one in CESA 8.
“I was kind of shocked. They only picked four in the state among parochial teachers,” Longmire said. “My thought is, yeah, I’m here, but I couldn’t do this without the teachers. I can’t say enough about my teachers and how much I love them.”
The Leadership Award recognizes school principals who set high standards for instruction, achievement and character, as well as those who create a climate to best serve students, families, staff and the community.
Recipients are selected by a statewide committee composed of civic leaders and representatives of education-related associations and the program’s co-sponsors: The Wisconsin Newspaper Association Foundation, Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, Wisconsin Council of Religious and Independent Schools, regional Cooperative Educational Service Agencies and the Association of Wisconsin School Administrators.
Longmire was nominated by D.J. Schultz, North Wisconsin District of Missouri Lutheran Synod education director.
After the foundation received the nomination, Longmire also had to submit paperwork regarding her achievements and additional letters of reference.
Longmire has been at St. James for 21 years and became its principal in 2005. She is proud of the strides the school has made in the time she has been there.
“I’m invested in this place. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else,” Longmire said. “It’s pretty nice when you work at a place you love to be at every day, and so far, I’m not tired of that.”
Longmire said she’s happy to work in an educational field where her religious beliefs are part of the atmosphere. It helps to create a family environment where teachers and parents work together to enhance student learning, she said.
“Our kids do extremely well when they head over to the high school, and we feel our school every year continues to improve,” Longmire said.
In the time Longmire has been principal, the parochial school has expanded its technology base. There are now Smartboards and projectors in every classroom, she said, along with Chromebook laptop computers for the higher grades and Nexus tablets for the lower grades.
“None of those things were present when I started,” Longmire said.
The school’s reading program has also improved, Longmire noted. There is a guided reading program, with records kept of each student’s progress.
Longmire said she hopes to have the school’s math program updated in the future.
“We do what we can so that we don’t lag behind (other schools),” Longmire said.
Enrollment is on the rise, due in part to a strong educational fund and being one a voucher school. In May 2015, St. James’ enrollment was at 162; Longmire anticipates enrollment will be at 190 by next fall.
The Leadership Award includes a $3,000 cash prize, and Longmire hasn’t decided where the money should go. Updates in technology, more desks for an ascending student population and new lockers for students are some possibilities she is considering.
The Kohl Foundation Scholarship and Fellowship program was established by retired U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl in 1990. To date the foundation has awarded $10.2 million to Wisconsin educators, students and schools. The Leadership Award to recognize outstanding Wisconsin school principals was added this year.
Longmire and other CESA 8 honorees will be honored at a banquet at West De Pere High School on April 17.