Editor’s note: Due to technical issues, this article was not fully published in the July 24 edition.
White River’s Janel Keating Hambly received one of the most prestigious awards given during a summer conference attended by more than 850 of her professional peers.
School superintendents, central office administrators and principals from across the state gathered for the 39th annual conference of the Washington Association of School Administrators and Association of Washington School Principals. The event took place June 30 through July 2 at the Spokane Convention Center.
Keating Hambly, the White River School District superintendent, received the Robert J. Handy Most Effective Administrator Award, which recognizes outstanding public school administrators across the state. One superintendent, central office administrator or building administrator is selected from a small school district (up to 500 students), medium-size school district (501 to 2,000 students), and large school district (more than 2,000 students).
Keating Hambly was honored in the “large district” division and joined Ken Russell, superintendent of the Riverside School District (medium) and Chad Prewitt, a principal in the Davenport School District (small).
A $10,500 award is equally divided among the three winners. A peer committee selects the recipients from nominations that describe how each nominee is taking part in realizing the nine characteristics of high performing schools/districts as defined by research from the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction.
Keating Hambly has spent more than 30 years in education. She taught elementary and middle school for 12 years in Montana, Virginia, Ohio and Idaho. She became the principal at Mountain Meadow Elementary in the White River School District in 1998 and spent eight years in that role before moving to the district office as the director of student learning in 2006. She has been the district superintendent since 2012.
She earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Carroll College in Montana, a master’s degree in educational leadership from the University of Idaho and received a superintendent’s certificate from Seattle Pacific University.
