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SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah State Office of Education and the Utah Association of Secondary School Principals announced the selection of three people Wednesday as Utah secondary principals of the year.
Todd Quarnberg, Sandy Ferrell and Peter Glahn were given the award and nominated to compete in the National Principal of the Year competition, which recognizes middle level and high school principals for demonstrating exemplary contributions to the profession and student success.
Quarnberg taught biology at Joel P. Jensen Middle School before serving as assistant principal at West Jordan, Hillcrest, Valley and Bingham high schools. He later became principal of the Jordan Applied Technology Center and now serves in that capacity at Copper Hills High in West Jordan.
"Todd is a model of high expectations," said Copper Hills guidance counselor Wendy Brown. "He creates a culture of collaboration whereby students and faculty take ownership of our shortcomings and make commitments to improve."
Ferrel has been principal of Sunrise Ridge Intermediate School in St. George since 2009. The school ranks among the top 15 secondary schools in Utah in student growth and proficiency, according to Washington School District superintendent Larry Bergeson.
"(Ferrel's) structured intervention and enrichment program has proven to be a very successful tool in closing the achievement gap," Bergeson said.
Glahn is a former ambassador to Portugal for the American Councils and Fulbright Teacher Exchange Program, and has been assistant principal at Mountain View High School in Orem since 2009.
"(Glahn) is able to see issues from multiple perspectives and can bring people together through his ability to communicate in such a way that others understand the bigger picture and where compromise can be reached," said Mountain View Principal Taran Chun.
