Leesville, LA – Vernon Parish School Board honored its Principals of the Year for 2019 during the December 5
th meeting. The recipients included A. Dione Bradford from Parkway Elementary, Henry Lacking from Vernon Middle School, and Jerome Henson from Pickering High School.
"The state gives us guidelines on how we select our Principals of the Year, and then they are selected by their peers," said Carolyn Bosely, the VPSB supervisor in charge of the Principals of the Year selection process. Principals selected at the local level then have their application submitted at the state-level as part of the Louisiana Department of Education Teacher and Principal of the Year award program, in partnership with Dream Teachers and Louisiana Association of Principals.
A. Dione Bradford, an educator with over 17 years of experience, stated she was “humbled and grateful” for the honor of being named the Elementary Principal of the Year. Bradford has served as the principal of Parkway Elementary for two and half years. In her remarks, Bradford continued by stating “God has truly blessed me with this unique opportunity to serve our military community and Vernon district.”
Henry Lacking, who has been an educator for 12 years, was extremely grateful to be bestowed the honor of being named Middle School Principal of the Year. In his 12 years, Lacking has worked as an administrator for six, with four years as an Assistant Principal and the last two years as the Vernon Middle School Principal. Lacking shared, “my selection is an indication of the team's hard work and their dedication to improving our students' educational experiences.”
Jerome Henson, named High School Principal of the Year as Principal of Pickering High School. Henson has over 25 years’ experience as an educator and comes from a family of teachers and fellow educators. During his time in education, Henson has served in many roles prior to becoming the Principal of Pickering High School – as a teacher, an instructional coach, and an assistant principal prior to becoming the Principal of Pickering High School.
“We are very grateful to reside in a school district with an overabundance of educators who exhibit strong leadership and dedication to our students. It is great to see VPSB recognizing those principals who go above and beyond to ensure that our students achieve academic success,” said Michael Reese, Fort Polk Progress Chairman, which spearheads the Education Initiative alongside Vernon Parish Schools, the Joint Readiness Training Center and Fort Polk, and community stakeholders.
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Photo provided by Rick Smith, VPSB
