Goddard High School has always taken pride in making itself a prestigious and highly thought-of school. When Principal Mr. Doug Bridwell found out that Goddard was nominated for a Blue Ribbon Award, he spent endless hours perfecting the application.
A committee that works for the Blue Ribbon Award nominated over 400 schools across the country for one of the two categories: Exemplary Improving and Exemplary High Performance.
Arne Duncan, the U.S. Secretary of Education, notified
Bridwell in January of 2012 that Goddard was nominated.
Bridwell put in over 40 hours of work over the previous
school year, filling out stacks of applications about Goddard’s achievements
and why Goddard deserves the award.
“The most outstanding feature was the continuous success in
assessments; we have been in the mid to upper 90% in reading and math,” said
Bridwell.
Goddard has consistently scored above the state and national
average. The school also offers support services for the students over a wide
range of needs.
The applications were due at the end of February to be
judged. On September 7, Bridwell found out that Goddard won Exemplary High
Performance, which is the top category for the Blue Ribbon Award.
“I chose Ms. Cross because she has done a lot of work with
the curriculum development; she served on many committees as chairperson and
representative,” said Bridwell. “I thought all her work made her deserve to
go.”
On November 11, Bridwell and Cross will flew to Washington
D.C. and attend many award ceremonies and banquets. They will return on
November 13.
“I was surprised. I didn’t imagine that they would ask me to
go to the ceremony,” said Cross.
Bridwell would like to thank everyone. The students and
teachers were the key to the success for Goddard High School.
