Two administrators from Cleveland and Nashville, respectively, are the latest recipients of UT awards that recognize outstanding education leaders in the state.
Martin Ringstaff, director of Cleveland City Schools, is the recipient of the University Council for Educational Administration Excellence in Educational Leadership Award.
Adrienne Koger, executive principal at Antioch High School in the Metropolitan Nashville Public School system, has received the William J. and Lucille H. Field Award for Excellence in Secondary Principalship for the State of Tennessee.
Both awards were presented Monday through the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies in the College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences.
Ringstaff was selected for the 2015 Excellence in Educational Leadership Award for his masterful use of educational theory to inform professional practice. The award is an annual recognition for practicing school administrators who have made significant contributions to improve administrator preparation.
As director of Cleveland City Schools, he shares his knowledge and experience with practitioners, scholars, and students and has been instrumental in the development of future leaders. He oversees a school system of 5,320 students, 804 faculty and staff, and an annual budget of $41.8 million.
Ringstaff holds a doctor of education from Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia. He is an adjunct instructor at the university and the administration internship supervisor for master’s and doctoral candidates.
Koger is the fourteenth winner of the William J. and Lucille H. Field Award. Established in 2001, it identifies a Tennessee secondary school principal whose life and work are characterized by leadership excellence. It recognizes those who demonstrate the values of civility, candor, courage, social justice, responsibility, compassion, community, persistence, and service in and through their work.
Under her leadership, Antioch High School has seen tremendous academic gains, including an increase in ACT scores, graduation rates, attendance rates, and end-of-course test scores in English, math, science, and history. The school also has had an overall decrease in discipline incidents. Antioch has been recognized as an International Baccalaureate World Candidate School, launched the Community Achieves Initiative, and won the Academies of Nashville Ninth Grade Academy of the Year award for the 2013–14 school year.
Koger holds a bachelor’s degree in elementary education, master’s degree in educational administration, and education doctorate, and education specialist degrees.
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CONTACT:
Pamela Angelle (865-974-4139, pangelle@utk.edu)
Lee Flood (865-974-6179, lflood@vols.utk.edu)