BROADALBIN - Broadalbin-Perth High School Principal Robin Blowers has been named 2011 New York State High School Principal of the Year by the School Administrators Association of New York State, an association representing more than 7,200 school administrators, supervisors and coordinators.
Blowers said she was "totally shocked and pleasantly surprised" by the announcement.
She said, "For me, it is truly a reflection on the leadership team at Broadalbin-Perth. We are a wheel with individual spokes that make this school district the great place that it is for students."
Blowers was nominated by the Broadalbin-Perth Leadership Team based on her dedication, commitment and ability as a school leader, said a news release from the state association.
Among programs she has instituted are the Looping Program, for students struggling with English language arts and global studies; the county ReConnecting Youth Program to strengthen the student-school connection; and the Credit Recovery Program to help students stay on the path to graduation. Blowers has also put into place a student buddy system, anti-bullying and tobacco programs, interventions for students at risk and a summer school program.
Broadalbin-Perth High School has the highest graduation rate in Hamilton-Fulton-Montgomery Board of Cooperative Educational Services. Its graduation rate was 87 percent, which is 7 percent higher than the New York state average, according to the 2009-10 New York State Education Department School Report Card.
Blowers has been an educator for 26 years, including 15 as a school administrator and 13 as principal of Broadalbin-Perth High School. In their nomination, leadership team members said, "She believes that all students learn by doing and that schools are obligated to educate the whole child."
Speaking of her character, the leadership team continued, "Whether it is buying groceries or clothes for families or finding a family a refrigerator because they are storing food in a cooler, visiting students in the hospital, organizing fundraisers to assist families with enormous medical expenses, Robin is the rock."
Blowers said she had received a lot of congratulations from people but is still in shock and things hadn't sunk in yet. She's grateful to everyone on the leadership team for their confidence in her, she said.
Blowers will be honored May 6 at an awards ceremony at the Century House in Latham. She is now a candidate for National High School Principal of the Year, an award sponsored by the National Association of Secondary School Principals and the Metropolitan Life Insurance Co.
Barbara Cook can be reached at ruralnews@leaderherald.com.
