The KSPA Administrator of the Year Award recognizes secondary school administrators who have stood up for the First Amendment and his/her students. The winner is honored at the State meeting in May following a presentation at the administrator’s home school district.
Download the Administrator of the Year form here.
Past Administrator of the Year winners include:
- 1990, Gary Graber, Nickerson High School
- 1991, James Baker, Maize High School
- 1992, Jim Heiman, F.L. Schlagle High School
- 1995, Robert Little, Phillipsburg High School
- 1997, Bill Edwards, Washburn Rural High School
- 1999, E. Jane Botz, Salina High School South
- 2000, William D. Parker, McPherson High School
- 2001, Rebecca Lisher & Warren Watson, Shawnee Heights High School
- 2003, Rick Weiss, Chase County High School
- 2004, Larry Bernard, Russell High School
- 2007, Ted Berard, Lawrence Free State High School
- 2008, Ken Thiessen, Wichita East High School
- 2011, Bill Anderson of Sterling High School
- 2012, Jack Koehn of Canton-Galva High School
- 2013, Charles McLean of Shawnee Mission West High School
- 2015, Jon Bishop of Pittsburg High School
- 2016, Dr. Linda Wiley of Topeka High School
- 2017, Doug Sallee of Junction City High School
- 2018, Marla Hayden of Wichita Public Schools
- 2019, Tim Hamblin of Derby High School
- 2020, Chris Botts of Maize High School
- 2022, Administrative Team from USD 383
- 2023, Gail Holder, Mill Valley High School
- 2024, Dr. Sean DeMaree, Olathe South High School
Here are the five Administrator of the Year criteria:
- Supports the Kansas Student Publications Act and the First Amendment
- Provides adequate and appropriate financial support for student media
- Understands the importance of journalism’s place in a complete secondary school curriculum
- Encourages academic and professional growth, both for students and for journalism teachers
- Provides personal support and encouragement for students and journalism advisers