2008 Dr. Kay Phillips Administrator of the Year

Al Leonard, South Pointe HS (Rock Hill, S.C.)

The Dr. Kay Phillips Administrator of the Year Award is presented to an administrator who supports his/her school publications in both physical needs of the journalism program and in understanding the time and effort put forth by the school’s publication advisers and their staffs.

This administrator should promote the professional growth of the adviser and students by encouraging and aiding in their attendance at seminars, conferences, conventions and workshops as well as support their membership in scholastic press organizations.

Leonard is someone who has been there for his school’s journalism program since the beginning. From allowing the staff to stay on campus after school and on the weekends, to providing the funds for equipment and field trips, this year’s winner has been there through thick and thin.

Leonard is a principal who allows his publication to be a “student/open forum that gives content control to the students” in a district where all the other publications practice prior review. The recipient has always given his staff and adviser “as much time as they needed with him […] and even helped set up tables for the first cookout fundraiser ticket sales in the stadium.”

Leonard has been there financially on more than one occasion, from paying for travel and half the registration fee of S.C. Scholastic Press Association, even paying for the registration and lunch for those students who could not afford it, to increasing the administrative deposit so his publication could stay with the better, yet more expensive local printer.