Ohio School Boards Leader Honored with National Leadership Award

Alexandria, Va. (February 2, 2012) – The National School Boards Association (NSBA)  has awarded the 2012 Thomas A. Shannon Award for Excellence, a national honor for leadership in public education, to Greta Gardner, former Deputy Director of Policy Services for the Ohio School Boards Association (OSBA).

“Greta Gardner is a leader that exemplifies OSBA’s mission of leading the way to educational excellence by serving Ohio's public school board members and the diverse districts they represent through superior service and creative solutions,” said Anne L. Bryant, NSBA’s Executive Director. “Her willingness to go above and beyond is a model for all to emulate.”

The award, established in 1997 in honor of former NSBA Executive Director Thomas A. Shannon, is given annually to recognize extraordinary efforts performed on behalf of NSBA, local school board constituencies, and school communities. Gardner will receive the honor at NSBA's Leadership Conference at the Washington Hilton in Washington, D.C on Saturday, February 4.

Gardner, who recently retired from OSBA, came to the organization in 1984 to create a policy service department. Through her efforts, OSBA’s policy service is respected throughout the state and is one of the largest in the country.

Gardner worked with more than 300 school districts during her nearly 28-year career at OSBA. This work ranged from a customized rewrite of a district’s policy manual to distributing updates of individual policies. She also served as editor of Policy Development Quarterly, wrote articles for other OSBA publications, and spoke at countless training and informational sessions.

“I’m proud that I was able to be part of creating OSBA’s policy services and help the program grow into a valuable service for Ohio’s 718 school districts,” Gardner said. “It’s one of many important tools that OSBA offers to strengthen public schools around the state, and I am honored to be recognized for it.”

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Founded in 1940, the National School Boards Association (NSBA) is a not-for-profit organization representing state associations of school boards and their more than 90,000 local school board members throughout the U.S. Working with and through our state associations, NSBA advocates for equity and excellence in public education through school board leadership. www.nsba.org

Contacts:
Linda Embrey, Communications Office
National School Boards Association
(703) 838-6737; lembrey@nsba.org

Crystal Davis Hutchins
Deputy Director of Communication Services
Ohio School Boards Association
(614) 540-4000; cdavishutchins@ohioschoolboards.org

Gardner photo (high res) availalable upon request from lembrey@nsba.org