SW principal receives IASP District 10 award

A Shelby County principal will be one of 12 high school principals honored in November during a dinner honoring the recipients of each district in the Indiana Association of School Principals.

Southwestern Jr/Sr. High School Principal Curtis Chase will be honored at the Nov. 24 dinner as the District 10 High School Principal of the Year and will be in the running for the 2019 State High School Principal of the Year award, which will be announced that night.

“Anytime you get something like this, it’s always surprising,” he said.

He mentioned the staff’s contributions in winning the award, saying they are “very innovative and do great things.”

“This is not a single-person award. Our staff, they do a great job,” he said, mentioning other staff members have won awards for their efforts. “I’m just very fortunate to have the staff do what they do.”

District 10 is made up of 10 counties from southeast Indiana – Shelby, Dearborn, Decatur, Fayette, Franklin, Hancock, Jennings, Ripley, Rush and Union.

Twelve principals at all three levels – high school, middle school and elementary school – will all be recognized during the dinner celebration, which is part of the Indiana Association of School Principal’s annual Fall professional conference. The dinner will be at 6 p.m.

IASP State President Elizabeth Walters and Executive Director Todd Bess will preside over the celebration.

Chase was nominated for the District 10 award, and after filling out a form that provided details on what the school has done. A committee selected the winners.

He also gave a nod to the student body.

“We have good kids here,” he said. “I’m very fortunate to work with them as well. It’s a group effort when something like this happens.”