All Hail the Chief
May 30, 2001--Wake County schools' director of environmental health and safety was named president of the North Carolina chapter of the Environmental Information Association, May 30.
Frank Koontz will represent not only the school system, but all of N.C. as head of the non-profit organization, advocating for environmental issues and regulations. WCPSS is the only active participating school system in the state chapter, and is one of the few that attends the EIA national conference.
"My goals are to increase chapter membership and improve communications," said Koontz. The NC/EIA is in the process of granting two scholarships to students in the environmental science field. In addition, 40 active members contributed $1,000 for flood relief in eastern N.C. and are organizing a workday to help further.
Koontz was nominated by the board and elected by the whole chapter. Last year he was named president-elect and for the past three years, he has served as a board member of the NC/EIA.
He has a long history with WCPSS and public schools in general. After going to Western Carolina for his undergraduate degree, and NCSU for graduate degrees, Koontz taught elementary and middle school. He spent the next 24 years as an elementary principal - 20 of those years were served here in Wake County. Koontz has been the director of environmental management since 1994.
His wife is a fourth-grade teacher in Wake County, and his
two children were educated here before graduating college
and entering the business world. For more information on NC/EIA,
please visit www.nceia.org.