Everyone is getting in on NASSP’s 100th anniversary. Principals are celebrating the history of their profession and NASSP’s continued growth into a new century. Student leaders from several generations are fondly remembering how NASSP helped them amplify their voices and build their leadership skills.

And now, Congress is joining the celebration.

H.Res.570, a resolution recognizing 2016 as the year of the 100th anniversary of the National Association of Secondary School Principals, was introduced on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives and into the federal record on December 17—just in time for NASSP’s 2016 celebration. The resolution was sponsored by Rep. Federica Wilson (D-FL), a former principal and assistant principal who now represents Florida’s 24th congressional district. Rep. Wilson decided to introduce the resolution after a visit by Florida principal and NASSP President-Elect Jayne Ellspermann during the NASSP Board’s November 5 Hill Day. The conversation started with principals’ priorities in ESEA reauthorization, but nassp_100_years_logo2eventually expanded to include NASSP’s long and still-vibrant tradition of supporting principals’ professional lives.

That discussion informed the content of the resolution. In addition to commemorating NASSP’s work over the past 100 years, this resolution celebrates the “commitment of NASSP to continue supporting middle level and high school principals, assistant principals, and school leaders from across the United States.” NASSP offers this support, the resolution continues, by “promoting high professional standards, focusing attention on school leaders’ challenges, providing a national voice for school leaders, building confidence in public education, and strengthening the role of the principal as an instructional leader for the next 100 years and beyond.”

The 100th anniversary celebration will be a theme of NASSP’s Ignite ’16 conference, February 25–26 in Orlando, FL, and throughout all of NASSP’s 2016 communications.

About the Author

David Chodak is the Associate Director of Advocacy at NASSP. Follow him on Twitter @dnchodak.

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