Columbia Falls Principal Appointed to National Board of Principals Association

David N. Wick, principal of Columbia Falls Junior High School, was recently appointed to the Board of Directors of the National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP). Gail Connelly, NAESP’s executive director, announced the election results from the Association’s headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia.

Wick begins his three-year term as Director at Large, Middle Level, on July 1. He will represent middle- level principals.

“My goal will be to work with the board and the middle-level principals to always remember that education is about people, to humbly listen to others, to encourage, to share our triumphs and difficulties, and to always remember that the principal’s task is to change lives through education,” Wick said in a statement.

Wick has been a member of NAESP and the Montana Association of Elementary and Middle School Principals (MAEMSP) since 1995. He has served as MAEMSP’s Middle School Representative since 2010. He was also recognized as a Montana Distinguished Principal in 2011, and a National Distinguished Principal in 2012.

Wick began his education career as an English teacher at Alma High School in Alma, Wisconsin, and went on to teach at Hope High School in Hope, North Dakota, and Brainerd High School in Brainerd, Minnesota. He went on to be Curriculum Leadership Program coordinator for the Academy for Curriculum Leadership and Technology at the University of Montana. He was assistant principal at Whitefish Middle School in Whitefish, Montana. For the past 16 years he has been principal of Columbia Falls Junior High School, while also serving as the Director of Elementary Education for Columbia Falls Schools for the past 15 years.

Wick earned a B.A. in English, Education, and Business Administration at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota. He earned his M.Ed. in Educational Leadership and Supervision at the University of Montana in Missoula.