Barb Chester, principal of Cherry Park Elementary School in the David Douglas School District, has been elected President-Elect of the National Association of Elementary Principals (NAESP). 

Chester, who has been a principal for 27 years, currently serves on the NAESP Board of Directors.  She will begin her three-year term in the NAESP presidency July 1, serving as president-elect next year, president in 2010-11 and past president in 2011-12.

Chester says she is “thrilled” to be representing elementary principals from around the country – many of whom have inspired her throughout her career.  Foremost on her mind, she says, is representing the goals of the NAESP membership, which include the importance of principals as instructional leaders in educating America’s children.   She will also preside over the NAESP National Conference April 7-11, 2011, in Tampa, Florida.

Chester came to Oregon in 1989, the same year that Gary Salyers, from the North Clackamas School District, was serving in this very same national position.  Salyers encouraged her to get involved in not only OESPA and COSA, but also the national association.  It is a decision that she says changed the course of her life and career, and she encourages her colleagues to do the same.  “I’m a firm believer in the power of being involved in your state and national associations,” Chester says.  “It has opened so many doors, and made me a much more effective administrator.”  To date, Chester and Salyers are the only two Oregon principals to hold NAESP’s top post.

 “Barb Chester is a great colleague who will be an effective voice for principals as national president-elect and president. She has a rich combination of experience, good judgment and practical knowledge to be our leader," OESPA President and COSA President-Elect Mike Donnelly said.

View Chester’s speech as a presidential candidate at the NAESP Convention