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December 05, 2024
LANSING – Retiring Michigan Elementary and Middle School Principals Association (MEMSPA) Executive Director Mr. Paul Liabenow will depart with a legacy of doing what’s best for kids, State Superintendent Dr. Michael F. Rice said.
Rice spoke to close to 700 educators at the Michigan Elementary & Middle School Principals Association’s 99th annual conference near Traverse City, which wraps up on Friday.
“Paul is an education superhero,” Rice said. “As an educator, whatever you do should be first and foremost guided by what’s best for kids. Paul has dedicated more than 40 years of his life to helping Michigan children. He served for three decades in Cadillac Area Schools as a teacher, principal, and superintendent and since 2012 as MEMSPA executive director. At MEMSPA, Paul has served children through his advocacy for public schools and through his mentoring and coaching of building leaders. He has been an outstanding partner on areas as diverse as early literacy and children’s mental health.”
Liabenow is retiring effective Dec. 30. He is being succeeded by Dr. Jerry McDowell, former superintendent of Whitehall District Schools.
The theme of Rice’s speech, “What’s your legacy?”, connected to the conference theme of “Leadership Legacy.” Rice talked about not only Liabenow’s legacy, but also the legacy of progress that Michigan has made toward the eight goals in its Top 10 Strategic Education Plan.
For example, gifts from Goal 7, to increase the numbers of certified teachers in areas of shortage, include scholarships and student teacher stipends for people preparing to be teachers, Grow Your Own programs for students and support staff who want to be teachers, teacher loan repayment, a rural credentialing hub, mentoring grants, and thousands of new teachers. Gifts from Goal 1, to expand early childhood learning opportunities, include universally accessible preschool. Gifts from Goal 3, to improve the health, safety, and wellness of all learners, include Michigan public schools adding 1,700 helping professionals—social workers, guidance counselors, nurses, and school psychologists—over the last five years, as well as the Michigan Meals Program, which increased breakfasts served at public schools by 26% and lunches served by 20% last year, its first year of operation.
Gifts from Goal 2, to improve early literacy achievement, include two new literacy/dyslexia laws to strengthen the pre-service and in-service training of teachers, to require screening for characteristics of dyslexia and intervention where characteristics of dyslexia are found, to develop a literacy coaching model, and to generate lists of assessments and early literacy materials from which districts must select.
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Shown at the Michigan Elementary and Middle School Principals Association with a cutout of its executive director, Paul Liabenow, are, from left, Liabenow, State Superintendent Dr. Michael F. Rice, and Liabenow’s wife, Ms. Bonnie Liabenow.
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