NAESP Publications Win 2021 Silver EXCEL Awards
The 2021 EXCEL Award winners have been announced, and NAESP has been recognized with a silver award for both the Principal magazine redesign and the Leading Lessons staff guide on “Social-Emotional Learning in the Time of COVID-19.”
Principal Magazine
As the role of the principal has shifted, so have NAESP’s publications. In celebration of its 100th anniversary, NAESP redesigned its hallmark Principal magazine to better meet the needs of today’s school leaders. Along with a new look and feel—crisp and modern yet still playful and appropriate for an education leader audience, the publication boasts new sections and columns to boost resources for school leaders.
The Bulletin Board section features NAESP and aligned resources that highlight what NAESP does to advocate for, strengthen, and support principals. This section allows us to share information that we usually feature only on the blog or through announcements or press releases—but offered in a digestible format.
New columns include The SEL Spot, Women in Leadership, Transitions (from and to the middle grades), Exploring Equity, Strong Foundation (resources for early learning), and APs Rising (developing assistant principals—created with generous resources from The Wallace Foundation).
Leading Lessons
Launched in 2018, Leading Lessons is a newer resource for NAESP but it is already being recognized for the second time–it won a Jesse H. Neal Award last year. Leading Lessons is a series designed to help practitioners take their learning into action and develop stronger leadership teams. The turnkey tool can be used as a professional guide with assistant principals, teacher leaders, or an entire school staff.
The Leading Lessons issue that received the 2021 silver EXCEL Award focused on the hot topic social-emotional learning (SEL), which provides a critical foundation for student success in school and life. When SEL is effectively integrated into classroom practice, students understand how to manage emotions, set goals, empathize with others, establish positive relationships, and make responsible decisions. NAESP created this issue of Leading Lessons with The Wallace Foundation—whose mission is to foster equity and improvements in learning and enrichment for young people and in the arts for everyone. Wallace has a focus on SEL and released several reports over the past few years. The goal was to boil down the long reports into usable strategies that principals could use to improve SEL in their schools.
Check out the award-winning Principal magazine and Leading Lessons staff guide.