Administrator of the Year
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Nominations for the 2026 honors should be submitted by March 13, 2026. Apply here. |
The KSPA Administrator of the Year Award recognizes secondary school administrators who have supported the First Amendment and the school’s journalism department. The winner is honored with a plaque at the State Celebration in May, following a presentation at the administrator’s home school district. Submit nominations here. Application requirements:
Nomination requirement: Submit a nomination letter that details the administrator’s support of scholastic journalism based on the above criteria. |
Past Administrator of the Year winners include:
- 1990, Gary Graber, Nickerson High School
- 1991, James Baker, Maize High School
- 1992, Jim Heiman, F.L. Schlagle High School
- 1995, Robert Little, Phillipsburg High School
- 1997, Bill Edwards, Washburn Rural High School
- 1999, E. Jane Botz, Salina High School South
- 2000, William D. Parker, McPherson High School
- 2001, Rebecca Lisher & Warren Watson, Shawnee Heights High School
- 2003, Rick Weiss, Chase County High School
- 2004, Larry Bernard, Russell High School
- 2007, Ted Berard, Lawrence Free State High School
- 2008, Ken Thiessen, Wichita East High School
- 2011, Bill Anderson of Sterling High School
- 2012, Jack Koehn of Canton-Galva High School
- 2013, Charles McLean of Shawnee Mission West High School
- 2015, Jon Bishop of Pittsburg High School
- 2016, Dr. Linda Wiley of Topeka High School
- 2017, Doug Sallee of Junction City High School
- 2018, Marla Hayden of Wichita Public Schools
- 2019, Tim Hamblin of Derby High School
- 2020, Chris Botts of Maize High School
- 2022, Administrative Team from USD 383
- 2023, Gail Holder, Mill Valley High School
- 2024, Dr. Sean DeMaree, Olathe South High School
- 2025, Dr. Ryan Flurry, Shawnee Mission School District CTE director