Tamarack Elementary School Principal Carrie Munsey has received the Excellence in Leadership Award from the Kentucky Association of Professional Educators. The award honors education administrators who demonstrate leadership skills, encouragement and outstanding service to their districts, schools, students and staff.
“Munsey was recognized for her core values of integrity, vision, leadership, empowerment and innovation,” , according to a release from Daviess County Public Schools. “She has challenged her staff and students to reach their greatest potential in the classroom — and beyond — and nurtures a positive environment at the school that values each individual and their unique gifts.”
The nomination specifically noted Munsey’s leadership during the past school year, in which educators developed non-traditional instruction to provide meaningful learning experiences for students in a virtual format.
“Ms. Munsey had a calm, clear vision of what needed to be done and how to accomplish it,” the nomination stated. “She inspired confidence with her no-nonsense decisions that were very effective. The TES leadership team developed a schedule and plan that worked. They incorporated classroom managers that contacted families to provide the equipment, knowledge and skills necessary to help their children log on, and taught them how to turn in homework on Google Classroom. This was essential for student success this year. I have grown as a teacher under Ms. Munsey’s guidance and I love it.”
Munsey said the award is a tremendous honor that is shared by the entire TES team.
“I am very passionate about building a positive school culture as well as building lasting relationships with staff, students and Tamarack families,” she said. “It is important to me to cultivate the talent of teachers and establish high expectations for students and teachers. My goal is to build leadership capacity by empowering students and educators to embrace an innovator’s mindset. I believe in leading by doing. The overall focus is always to put our students first and provide them with opportunities to learn and grow.”
Munsey is beginning her sixth year as principal at Tamarack. Before that, she served for seven years as assistant principal at Tamarack and Highland elementary schools; she was an instructional coach at Burns Middle School for five years, where she additionally taught 8th-grade for seven years. Munsey earned a master’s degree and Rank I from Western Kentucky University and is a graduate of Kentucky Wesleyan College, Tallahassee Community College and Daviess County High School.
KAPE executive director Donna House said a committee of KAPE executive board members and administrators reviews nominations from across the Commonwealth each year.
“The committee reviews the nominees to see that they meet the components of the rubric for educators demonstrating the highest qualities of leadership,” House said. “Principal Munsey was selected from all the nominees in Kentucky during the annual committee meeting in April.”
