Students and staff of Normal Community West High School surprised the school principal as they celebrated her win of a leadership excellence award.
Angie Codron is one of two school principals in Illinois to win the Golden Apple Award for Excellence in Leadership from a pool of seven nominees. Codron also won $10,000 from the Golden Apple Foundation, with half going to Codron and half to a school project of her choice. She plans to put it toward an atrium upgrade at the high school.
Hundreds of students and staff gathered Monday in the Instructional Media Center [IMC] to await Codron’s arrival. She was not told ahead of time, to make it a surprise she could share with the school community.
“I couldn't imagine having anybody else but Dr. Codron get this award because she is the real deal,” said Jordan Stovall, a Normal West junior. “It was absolutely mounting, that anticipation waiting on her to walk through the doors to get what she really deserved.”
Another school administrator led Codron to the IMC.
“Pretty awesome,” said Codron. “We were just kind of walking through the school, And then she's like, ‘I think you need to go in here.’ And then I turned the corner, and everybody was in here.”
Along with two principals, 10 pre-K-3 teachers will be surprised with the announcement that they won a Golden Apple Award over the next two weeks. The awards have been given each year since 1985.
“What these teachers and principals do is they are the models for what our profession should be, and they get more people into teaching and leading,” said Alan Mather, president of the Golden Apple Foundation.
“It goes without saying to all of you how awesome Dr. Codron is,” said Unit 5 Superintendent Kristen Weikle. “She works hard to make sure that students are learning, that we're improving outcomes for students, and that we have the best conditions for staff.”
Codron has been principal of Normal West for three years. She spent seven years as associate principal after a decade as a science teacher and coach, all at Normal West.
“I think there's a feeling at Normal West that I haven't been able to feel maybe the same at other places,” said Codron. “And I just think that our students are what make that real, and why we come here, and why we do what we do.”
Codron’s parents and her son, A.J. also were present for the surprise. A.J. is an education major at Illinois State University. He received a scholarship from the Golden Apple Foundation, which is provided to students who plan to study education.
