Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Hardy Herrington Earns Leadership Award

The Arkansas Academy for leadership training and school-based management has announced that Hardy Herrington, principal at Nevada High School, was awarded the Distinguished Leadership Award at the academy's December 1-6 strategic leadership institute.

Herrington was among 33 Arkansas administrators and academy partners selected to participate in the institute at the Tyson Management Development Center in Russellville.

The week-long institute focused on enhancing participants' leadership skills. Specific topics addressed were planning for the future in education, understanding and managing change, building the team, challenging the process, influencing people impacting the outcomes, and leading leaders.

The Arkansas Leadership Academy, established by the Arkansas Legislature in 1991 and housed at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, is a partnershp consisting of the following 41 educational and professional organizations, Universities and business corporations: Arkansas School Public Relations Association, Arkansas Association of Educational Administrators, Arkansas Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, Arkansas Chapter-National State Teachers of the Year, Arkansas North Central Association, all of the state's educational cooperatives, Arkansas State University, Arkansas Tech University, Harding University, Henderson State University, Ouachita Baptist University, Southern Arkansas University, University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, University of Central Arkansas, Williams Baptist College, Arkansas Leadership Exchange, Inc., Arkansas Education Television Network, Tyson Foods, Inc., Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., Arkansas Department of Higher Education, Arkansas Department of Vocational Education and the Arkansas Department of Education.

Herrington reported that the Arkansas Leadership Academy re- inforced and strengthened the skills already being practiced in his school.

"All the elements of the 21st century school are right here," he said, "site-based decision making, consensus building, extensive parent-community involvement and empowerment of teachers and other school staff. Having an organization such as the Arkansas Leadership Academy advancing these ideas makes it easier at the local level to get faculty buy-in to the process."