3 principals honored, rewarded

Danette Goulet

NEWPORT-MESA -- They call education a thankless profession, but at the

rate the Irvine Co. is handing out checks, no one will be saying that for

long.

Three principals in the Newport-Mesa Unified School District were

among 10 honored by the Irvine Co. on Monday night with Principal

Excellence awards. Each received a check for $10,000 to spend as he or

she sees fit.

“I have the check at home, and I just keep looking at it,” said a

flabbergasted Cheryl Galloway, principal of Davis Education Center in

Costa Mesa.

Principals from two other Costa Mesa elementary schools joined

Galloway in being honored this year. Judy Laakso, principal of Victoria

Elementary School, and Daryle Palmer, principal of Kaiser Elementary

School, are the district’s other two excellent principals.

All three administrators said they were blown away by the honor and

the amount of the monetary bonus.

“I think it’s obviously a wonderful honor to have received this, and

in my case, I think it’s the reflective effort of the quality of the

staff that’s here, the parents and the students,” Laakso said. “Victoria

is really a combined effort of everyone. I think this honor is a

reflection of everyone that is here.”

The question now is what to do with all that money.

“With one kid in college and one looking at [colleges] -- it means a

family vacation,” Palmer said. “I almost feel obligated to do something

totally frivolous with it.”

Galloway had already planned and paid for her first summer vacation

since she opened Davis Education Center, but now she’ll be going to some

fancy restaurants on that trip.

Along with Newport-Mesa’s joyous administrators, three principals from

Irvine, Laguna Beach and Tustin Unified school districts were honored.

The Irvine Co. handed out a total of $100,000 Monday night.

“We have always done reward programs for students, teachers and

principals, but the dollar amounts have increased substantially this

year,” said Jennifer Smith, a spokeswoman for the Irvine Co.