And the winner is ...

SPRING VALLEY — It’s a good thing Lincoln School Principal Kim Lisanby-Barber was sitting down when her telephone rang shortly after 4 p.m. Monday.

“I was extremely shocked,” she said. “I think all I said was, ‘Wow!’”

The call was from Jason Leahy, executive director of the Illinois Principals Association, and he was calling to tell Lisanby-Barber she had been chosen as the Elementary Principal of the Year.

“It’s amazing,” she said. “It’s such an honor to be recognized by your peers and selected from a group of nominees.”

Lisanby-Barber was nominated for the award by Spring Valley Elementary Superintendent Jim Hermes; Esmeralda Harris, a speech pathologist assistant and pre-kindergarten parent coordinator at Lincoln; and school nurse Mary Drumheller.

Hermes said it was an easy decision to nominate Lisanby-Barber based on everything she’s done during the last 15 years.

“She’s played an integral part in every decision that’s been made,” he said. “There have been a lot of successes along the way, and she’s been one of the constants.”

Hermes said Lisanby-Barber is head of the district’s special education department, its homeless liaison, and has been the curriculum director for a number of years.

“She started the Positive Behavior Intervention System at Lincoln,” he said. “She’s worked closely with the teachers on that, and it’s really been a great program.”

Hermes said receiving the award is quite an accomplishment.

“We’re all still kind of shocked and happy for Kim,” he said. “It’s not only exciting for her, but for our district to be recognized.”

The letters nominating Lisanby-Barber were first submitted to the Starved Rock Region, which includes schools in Bureau, LaSalle, Putnam and Marshall counties. Each of the 21 regions in the state selects a region winner, who is then moved on to the statewide competition. State winners are selected by an Awards Committee made up of past IPA presidents. 

Because of her position as Starved Rock Region director, Lisanby-Barber knew she had been nominated, but she said she never thought she would win.

“I didn’t expect it, so it was a pleasant surprise,” she said.

Lisanby-Barber is currently working on her doctorate at Western Illinois University and said she has accumulated a large knowledge base that helps her in her many roles.