By Dedra Cordle
Staff Writer
Katherine Nowak was recently named Ohio’s National Distinguished Principal at the middle level by the National Association of Elementary School Principals for her vision and leadership at Hayes Intermediate. Nowak, who has worked for the South-Western City Schools District for her entire professional career, took over for Kevin Laffin as principal at Hayes Intermediate in 2013.
The life-long dream of Katherine Nowak was to make a difference in the world.
At 18, the Toledo native believed her path to achieving this goal was to head off to Washington D.C. and get firsthand knowledge of political life while majoring in international studies at American University. She quickly came to the realization that the political realm was not a good fit for her.
“It was not the career for me,” she said.
Despite the discouragement she felt by the bureaucracy of that town, she found inspiration working with the homeless and Special Olympians through service activities.
She said those interactions, particularly working with children, changed her trajectory.
“I then decided that a career in education would be a better fit for me.”
For her sophomore year, Nowak transferred to Bowling Green State University with a focus on middle childhood education. Soon after, she graduated with a bachelor of science in education and then a masters of education.
During her graduate studies, Nowak travelled to KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa to study with local educators. While there, she fell in love with their method of collaborative learning and brought some of those ideas back with her to Ohio.
During a job fair at BGSU, she came across the table for the South-Western City Schools District and interviewed for an open position. She, along with her then fiancé (now husband) Brent, accepted a teaching opportunity with the district and began their careers in 2004.
For two years, Nowak taught at Finland Middle School and then at Park Street Intermediate for five years. During that time, she attended The Ohio State University to pursue a principal license, which was a position she never thought she wanted.
“If someone had told me when I started out as a teacher that I would be a principal one day I would have laughed.”
But she said her feelings started to change when she wanted to make a greater impact on the students.
“Instead of making a difference in the lives of 26 students in my classroom, I wanted to make a difference in the lives of the 500 kids in the building,” Nowak said.
When she became the principal at Hayes Intermediate in 2013, she helped usher in “Husky Strong,” a school-wide positive behavior initiative that rewards students for showing respectful and responsible behavior, as well as being ready to learn.
Parent Melissa Butsko said when her son gets a ticket for his positive behavior or helpful actions at school, he is filled with pride and can’t wait to tell her all about it.
But the popular “Husky Strong” initiative is not the only reason why parents such as Butsko like and admire Nowak. They say it is because she goes beyond her duties to make sure everyone is comfortable in and out of the classroom.
When Butsko’s daughter, who was adopted from Ukraine, began attending classes at Hayes Intermediate, she had learning difficulties due to the transition. Realizing this, Nowak got together with the Butsko family and charted out a plan of action to help ease the academic challenges.
When it was time for her to move onto middle school, Nowak spoke with the principal to help continue that plan of action. Butsko said that intervention program helped her daughter’s transition to a higher level of education immensely.
With all of these examples of Nowak’s passion for children in mind, Butsko nominated her to represent the state for the National Distinguished Principal at the middle level through the National Association of Elementary School Principals.
Nowak said she was floored when she heard she had been nominated for the prestigious award.
“It was an honor just to be nominated, and I certainly never believed I would actually be named.”
But several weeks ago, Nowak was informed that, out of all of the applicants, she had been chosen as Ohio’s Distinguished Principal at the middle level.
She said that while it is wonderful to be recognized for her work, this award is more of a reflection of the students and staff at Hayes Intermediate and the district as a whole.
“I have a tremendous team,” she said. “I have always worked with a great staff and colleagues and they have truly made a difference in my approach and practices as an educator.”
Linda Kuhn, the district’s executive director of middle grades, said Nowak is a wonderful example of a true leader and they are thrilled that she was chosen as the state’s Distinguished Principal at the middle level.
“This is a really great thing,” Kuhn said. “Her career has been about empowering people, empowering colleagues, empowering teachers and she has really taken on these great leadership roles.”
Kuhn said this award is a validation of the impact Nowak and her staff are making at Hayes Intermediate School.
