Wight Named 2008 Principal of the Year
Rodgers Named 2008 Assistant Principal of the YearOctober 16, 2008 - The Wake County Public School System named Matt Wight of Apex High School the 2008 Principal of the Year and Shejuanna Rodgers of Apex Middle the 2008 Assistant Principal of the Year in ceremonies this evening at the Marbles Kids Museum in Raleigh. The awards ceremony is sponsored by the Wake County Public School System and the Wake County Division of Principals and Assistant Principals.
 Matt Wight named 2008 Wake County Principal of the Year. |
 Rosa Gill, school board chair, congratulates Wight and his family. |
Listen to Matt Wight on being named 2008 Wake County Principal of the Year 3 minute mp3 file |
 Shejuanna Rodgers named 2008 Wake County Assistant Principal of the Year. |
Matt Wight, 2008 Principal of the Year
Wight has been in education 24 years and has been principal at Apex High for two years. Prior to his job at Apex High, Wight served as principal of Salem Middle, East Cary Middle and was a principal, assistant principal and teacher in the New Hanover County schools.
In his two years at Apex High, Wight has brought attention to the importance of working together for student academic success.
“To begin transforming the culture at Apex High, I made a conscious effort to communicate my vision of instructional leadership at every opportunity,” said Wight. “Whenever I spoke before the faculty, I talked about the guiding principals of a planned learning community; collaboration, using common assessments and focusing on results. I clarified my expectations for teachers: posting the daily learning objective, high levels of student engagement and checking for understanding.”
Wight is a former college soccer player and has continued playing, coaching and refereeing soccer. He’s active in his church and devotes time to his family, seeking to make it home every night to read with his children at bedtime.
Counselor Rebecca Andrews worked with Wight at Salem Middle and is now at Apex High. “Matt Wight has been the most effective principal at the middle and high school levels for whom I have worked,” said Andrews. “He has changed the climate of a school as well as the academic structure, and created an excellent one from the ground up.”
2008 Principal of the Year finalists include James Sposato of Powell Elementary; Rod Stanton of Cary Elementary; Savon Willard of Salem Elementary and Dalphine Perry of Zebulon Middle.
Shejuanna Rodgers, 2008 Assistant Principal of the Year
Rodgers has been in education for 14 years and has been assistant principal at Apex Middle for four years. Prior to working at Apex Middle, Rodgers served as an administrator with the NC Department of Public Instruction, and a teacher at Rolesville Elementary. She was also a teacher at a Green County middle school.
Rodgers says the development of professional learning communities has helped in the re-imagining of her school.
“The steps taken to achieve our goals have been strategic and deliberate, as we gained teacher buy-in through the practice of collaboration and by clarifying the shifts we need to make as we implement this philosophical change,” said Rodgers. “I am proud of my role and the progress we have made as a school. As we begin year five, I am proud to say that working as a professional learning community at Apex Middle is not what we do, it is who we are and how we go about planning and ensuring student success.”
2008 Assistant Principal of the Year finalists include Edna Faye Jones of Forest Pines Elementary, Kathy Godfrey of Harris Creek Elementary, Lisa Cruz of Brier Creek Elementary and Teri Whyte Scott of East Wake High School of Engineering Systems.
Awards presented
The 10-finalists will receive an acrylic award, and an executive padfolio compliments of Office Depot. The principal finalists will receive a monetary award that was made possible by Hunt Ward, Lifetouch Studios. And each assistant principal finalist will receive a monetary award that was made possible by Jubel Stagner and Kim Trezona of Jostens.
As Principal of the Year, Matt Wight will receive a $1,000 check compliments of Hunt Ward, Lifetouch Studios and an executive padfolio and HP combination Printer, Scanner, Copier, and Fax compliments of Sonya Reid of Office Depot. The Principal of the Year’s school will receive a $500.00 monetary award compliments of Michael Strawbridge, Strawbridge Studios.
As Assistant Principal of the Year, Shejunna Rodgers will receive a $500 check, compliments of Jubel Stagner and Kim Trezona of Jostens and an executive padfolio and HP combination Printer, Scanner, Copier, and Fax compliments of Sonya Reid of Office Depot.
Sponsors of the awards program include Wake County Division of Principals and Assistant Principals, Wake County Community Services, Caffé Luna, Marbles Kids Museum, IBM Corporation, Jostens, Incorporated, Lifetouch Studios, North Carolina Association of Educators, Office Depot, Pierce Group Benefits, Progress Energy, Saturn of Raleigh/Cary and Strawbridge Studios.
Principals and assistant principals are nominated by their peers. Each finalist is required to submit a portfolio, receive a site visit, and is interviewed by a panel of educators and community members.
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