Principal of the Year and Teacher of the Year Announced

The Louisiana Department of Education has announced the most recent recipients of the titles of Teacher and Principal of the Year.

The Principal of the Year honor goes to Dr. Eric Davis of Wossman High School in the City of Monroe School District. Davis says he believes the growth in his students is what landed him the award.

"We went from a 'D' to a 'B' in a year and we had 17.3 points of growth.  We were the number one public high school recognized for student growth in the state," says Davis of the school's overall performance grade.

Davis adds his staff deserves recognition for their efforts.

"It's easy to get the kids to follow what you are trying to do.  But your staff, you know, I just believe if you treat people right and you take care of them and you value their expertise that they have in the classroom, they will work for you," says Davis of his staff.

Spencer Kiper of Elm Grove Middle School in Bossier City picked up the award for Teacher of the Year. Kiper, a STEM teacher, says the surprise of the recognition serves as further motivation for his job.

"I'm still in shock, to be honest with you.  but I'm excited to get to work for the teachers and students and leaders of Louisiana," says Kiper.

Kiper says his formula to success is putting everything he can into enabling his student with knowledge.

"Where I place a lot of emphasis is having the ability to say when they leave my class in the eighth grade, 'I have all of this knowledge and I know what I can do with it.'"