Muriel Summers Wins 2001 Principal of the Year
James Overman Named Assistant Principal of the Year
The principal of one of Wake's most award-winning schools has earned the district's top administrative honor, Principal of the Year. Combs Elementary's Muriel Summers was named Principal of the Year in a ceremony at Cary's Embassy Suites Hotel on Thursday night.
In addition to honoring Summers, Wake County also named its top assistant principal, James Overman of Leesville Elementary.
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Combs Elementary is a Leadership Development magnet school. Under Summers' leadership, Combs has been named a North Carolina School of Distinction, earned a North Carolina Governor's Entrepreneurial Award, a National Magnet School of Merit award, been named a U.S. Department of Education Blue Ribbon School of Excellence, and North Carolina Department of Public Instruction Blue Ribbon School of Excellence. Just this week, world renowned leadership consultant Dr. Stephen Covey visited Combs, a school that incorporates some of Covey's principles in its program.
Describing her leadership style, Summers writes, "A true leader has the confidence to stand alone, the courage to make tough decisions, and the compassion to listen to others. My leadership style is based on the principles of enabling others to act, inspiring a shared vision, modeling the way, challenging the process, and encouraging the heart."
Writing about the duties of a principal, Summers observes, "I have witnessed that by enabling others to act, I have created a climate that fosters collaboration, mutual respect, and team spirit. Challenging the process by taking risks and searching for innovative opportunities to change has resulted in an exciting and ever-evolving school culture. Inspiring a shared vision and passionately believing that what we do does make a difference, has put our academic community on a journey towards excellence and continuous improvement. Modeling the way through hard work, high expectations and the belief that everyone is important are inherent responsibilities."
Summers has served on the Central Wake County Baldrige Committee, Wake County Curriculum and Instruction committee, Wake County Schools Martin Luther King Committee, Wake County Schools Support Personnel Committee, Beginning Teacher of the Year Selection Committee and Assistant Principal of the Year Selection Committee.
Wake Assistant Superintendent Toni Patterson writes, "When I try to characterize Muriel as a leader, I think about her as a trailblazer and innovator. When I observe Muriel at work, I am awed by her boundless energy, willingness to take risks, capacity to learn, and focused advocacy for her students and school. She is relentless in pursing opportunities to gain external resources and has written grants, as well as bartered with the likes of Stephen Covey to pilot his leadership model in exchange for training her entire staff for free! She is one of the most proactive and creative leaders I have ever had the pleasure of working with."
Summers has been principal at Combs since 1997. Prior to that, she was an assistant principal for three years, and teacher for two years in Wake County. She was also a teacher for 13 years in Maryland and western North Carolina. Summers earned her undergraduate degree at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a Masters in early childhood education at UNC-Charlotte. She has also earned a Masters in supervision and administration at the University of Maryland.
 Leesville Elementary Assistant Principal James Overman |
Assistant Principal of the Year James Overman of Leesville Elementary said the biggest appeal of being a school administrator is having a positive impact on children. "As a school administrator, I touch many more lives of children than I was able to touch as a teacher," he said. "This is a very rewarding experience for me. I hope to make an enormous contribution in the field of school administration by improving student achievement for all children, developing life-long learners and preparing students for a global technological society."
Since becoming assistant principal at Leesville Elementary in 1999, Overman has taken several steps to improve the achievement of the students at Leesville and to expose them to technology. He sponsors a technology club at the school, and he also spearheads the school's morning in-house news program, directing and training the students to run the show.
By reaching out to industry and the community, he has gathered tutors and mentors to help students in need. After realizing that many of the students in the school's satellite area were being referred to the office for inappropriate behavior, disrespect and failure to complete homework assignments, he convinced parents, IBM employees and Wake County Human Services employees to serve as mentors for these students. "Our satellite area at the time was a section of downtown Raleigh that included several low income housing areas," he said. "After further investigating, it was discovered that many of the students being referred came from single family homes and many had low self-esteem and low self-confidence. After one month, we saw a drastic decrease in discipline problems and an increase in self-esteem and self-confidence."
Along with reaching out to students, Overman also strives to involve parents in the activities of the school. "Some of our students are bused from downtown Raleigh, and many of the parents do not have transportation to participate in PTA meetings at the school. So I helped set up community based PTA meetings," he said. Overman has also set up lunches for students and parents in parks near their homes and has held community meetings with parents who were initially unhappy about being assigned to Leesville.
Leesville Elementary Principal Edward Gainor said Overman possesses three traits that set him apart. "The first is his intuitive feel for situations and giving just the right assistance at the right time. The second characteristic is Mr. Overman's work as a team player. He is always willing and actively seeks to share in the coverage of duties when needed due to an absent staff member. The final characteristic is Mr. Overman's work ethic of seeing an assignment through to full completion."
Prior to being named assistant principal at Leesville Elementary, Overman served as assistant principal intern at Timber Drive Year-Round Elementary and as a technology education teacher at Clayton High in Johnston County and Magna Vista High in Virginia.