BLOOMFIELD PRINCIPAL GIVEN NATIONAL HONOR

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- Sheila Perry has gotten good at writing grant proposals.

Still, never in a million years did the Bloomfield Elementary School principal imagine sitting at a Los Angeles hotel among the nation's outstanding school policy-makers and business leaders.

Perry attended the prestigious Milken National Educator Awards with 155 other people nominated to receive a $25,000 award.

She was one of three Missouri educators at one of the most respected seminars in the country.

"It's wonderful," Perry said, still reeling from her recent experience.

The state commissioner of education and her superintendent told her of the award in October in front of her schoolchildren.

At the two-day conference last month, themed "Teacher Quality: Building On Excellence," educators attended intensive workshops featuring tools and techniques to use to improve their teaching.

The session included a debate over critical public policies to promote and enhance teacher quality, a groundbreaking new model for assessing teacher effectiveness and the practicality of linking student achievement to teachers.

There was also a bipartisan panel discussion of state and federal policies for improving teacher quality.

Five hours of fancy'

But it was the highlight of the event June 26 that left Perry and her peers wide-eyed. The ceremony was done in true Hollywood fashion and was like nothing Perry had ever seen.

Men were required to wear tuxedos and women formals.

"I felt out of place," she joked. "I felt like I was a little country woman but they were all so nice and it was all so down to earth that it really didn't bother me one bit, although I was nervous about going out there. They flew us out there Sunday, they paid all of the expenses."

She explained, "You wouldn't believe what Tuesday night was like. Tommy Lasorda showed up, Art Linkletter showed up, Graham Stills of Crosby, Stills and Nash showed up and sang. It was just boom, boom, boom, boom, five hours worth of fancy."