On Nov. 19, Dr. Richard Perry was one of 110 superintendents selected to participate in the First Superintendents Conference at the White House. Over 1,200 superintendents out of 16,000 across the country attempted to participate in this summit. Most were from large school districts spanning from Alaska, California, Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Texas and Pennsylvania, to name a few. Only 6 were chosen from New Jersey. Perry was the only one from south Jersey selected.
The day was intense in terms of work sessions and discussions with Arne Duncan and panels about teaching and learning initiatives utilizing technology as a tool for various types of school districts across the country. According to Arne, our school district is one of the best and one of the leaders in innovation and instruction. The best part of the day was when the superintendents met with the President of the United States in the East Room of the White House after going through several checkpoints. After talking with them, President Obama began to exit. As he did, he approached Perry and talked to him for about a minute, thanking him for coming and telling him that his school district was doing an outstanding job and to keep up all the good work.
You can’t go any higher than the recognition of the President of the United States and to be chosen to participate in this experience is quite an honor for all of us. Perry would like to sincerely thank the board of education, administration, teachers, students, parents and community for giving him this opportunity and to also congratulate everyone in Haddonfield for this prestigious recognition.
A special thanks to Mark Cavanna for submitting Perry’s name for this event.
