GAESP Georgia Distinguished Principal Kaleen Pulley, Buford Academy (Gwinnett)
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he GAESP named Kaleen Pulley, principal of Buford Academy (Gwinnett), the 2017 Georgia Distinguished Principal. Accomplishments at Buford Academy under Pulley’s helm include being a 2017 Title I Highest Reward School, a Top 10 Georgia Elementary School and a three-year Governor’s Shape Honor Roll recipient. Pulley, a PAGE member, also has teamed up with the North Gwinnett Kiwanis Club to implement the Kiwanis Bring Up Grades
program, or BUGS, which recognizes students who improve their grades. Prior to joining Buford Academy in 2012, Pulley served as assistant principal at two schools in South Carolina and as a teacher in Virginia. She earned an undergraduate degree from Radford University (Virginia), a master’s in science education at Troy State University (Alabama) and an education specialist degree at Piedmont College.
GAESP Georgia Outstanding Assistant Principal Jamie Voorhies, Huddleston Elementary (Fayette)
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uddleston Elementary School Assistant Principal Jamie Voorhies has been named Georgia’s outstanding assistant principal by GAESP. Voorhies, a PAGE member, worked with the staff to build a Response to Intervention process in which grade-level teams analyze data to help students be successful. She and the staff and district coordinators also wrote a grant proposal to bring Project Lead the Way to Huddleston. By using PLTW with the school’s STEAM initiative “we are creating inquiry-based, self-directed,
problem-based learning at our school,” she stated on the Distinguished Principals nomination application. Voorhies has a bachelor’s in elementary education from Fort Hayes State University in Kansas; a master’s in curriculum and instruction from Kansas State University and a master’s in administration and leadership from Emporia State University in Kansas. Prior to joining Huddleston Elementary in 2012, she served as an assistant principal in Texas and as a teacher in Texas, Utah and Georgia.
GAMSP Georgia Middle Level Assistant Principal of the Year Kevin Benson, White County Middle School
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evin Benson of White County Middle School is Georgia’s 2017 Outstanding Middle Level Assistant Principal of the Year, according to the Georgia Association of Middle School Principals (GAMSP). Benson, who is in his fourth year on the job, has helped develop his school’s Positive Behavior Interventions & Support program, and, as the school’s safety director, is helping to rewrite the school district’s safety plan in collaboration with
local and state agencies. White County Superintendent Jeffrey Wilson called Benson “inquisitive, serious, and a life-long learner,” adding that he is “well deserving of this honor.” Benson earned a bachelor’s degree in education from Kennesaw State University, a master’s degree from the University of Georgia and a specialist degree from Liberty University. His first administrative position came in 2010 at the Summit Academy in Carnesville.
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August/September 2017
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