Nebraska State Association of Secondary School Principals Announces Assistant Principal of the Year: Ryan Hogue, Kearney Public Schools

The Nebraska State Association of Secondary School Principals has selected Ryan Hogue as the 2022 Assistant Principal of the Year. This award is presented annually to a Principal who has demonstrated outstanding leadership in their school, region, and at the state level. The winner will have demonstrated their enthusiasm for the Assistant Principalship by support from students, parents, teachers and peers.

"I am so incredibly happy for Mr. Hogue and his well-deserved honor of being named the NSASSP Assistant Principal of the Year!,” said KPS Superintendent Jason Mundorf.  “Mr. Hogue has an incredible passion for Kearney Public Schools, Kearney High School, our athletics and activities.  He works tirelessly to support our teachers, coaches, and athletes with top-notch facilities, game apparel, and events."

Mr. Hogue has been in education since 2001, when he started his career as a Social Studies and Physical Education Teacher at Deshler Public Schools. In 2008, Mr. Hogue then moved into an administrative role in Broken Bow Public Schools working as the Assistant Principal and Activities Director for 10 years. Currently, Mr. Hogue has been working as an Assistant Principal and Activities Director in Kearney Public Schools and has served in that capacity since 2018.

For 15 years, Ryan Hogue has been a member of the Nebraska Council of School Administrators (NCSA), the Nebraska State Association of Secondary School Principals (NSASSP) and the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP). Mr. Hogue has been an active member of the NSIAAA (Nebraska State Athletic Administrators Association) for 20 years and has been their Fall convention coordinator since 2018. In 2014, he was recognized as the NSIAAA District IV Activities Director of the year and in 2019 he received the State Award of Merit for this association.

Dr. Chris Loofe, Associate Superintendent and Director of Finance at Kearney Public Schools, praised Mr. Hogue, noting, “He has been instrumental in securing funding for our indoor scoreboard updates. Through his leadership, he not only paid for those boards in full in two years, he is projected to wipe out the negative balance in his concessions update account by the end of the year."

Mr. Hogue states, “I appreciate all of the support that my wife Jenny has provided me in my career in education and will enjoy seeing my children Addison who is 5 and Hudson who is 2 learn in Nebraska’s great educational system!”

NAESP Announces Outstanding New Principal of the Year Jenn True – Emerson Elementary Principal

The Nebraska Association of Elementary School Principals has elected Jenn True as the 2022 Outstanding New Principal of the Year.

Jenn True has been in education since 2008 when she began her career as a third grade teacher and junior high volleyball coach at Grand Island Northwest. Mrs. True continued teaching and coaching at different levels in both elementary and middle schools, utilizing her leadership skills on school improvement teams, curriculum reviews, teacher development programs, and more for the next decade. In 2019 Mrs. True started her administrative career as the K-5 principal at Emerson Elementary in Kearney. Since becoming a principal, Mrs. True has continued to grow in her leadership capacity serving as the NAESP Region IV President, NAESP Public Relations Coordinator, on the Buffalo County Early Childhood Core Group, and on multiple Kearney Public Schools district committees. 

"What else can I do to help?  When you get to know Jenn True and her leadership, that philosophy becomes evident quickly,” said Jason Mundorf, KPS Superintendent. “Whether it's supporting district initiatives, supporting her teachers, helping a student, or volunteering for a state committee looking to improve education, Jenn True is a leader that will quickly lift a hand to help.  She has used her servant leadership to lift up her teachers and students at Emerson, and she has built a terrific culture in that building."

In talking about Mrs. True’s determination to help those around her succeed, Mark Johnson, Principal at Sunrise Middle School in Kearney, stated, “She always strives to do whatever it takes to make those around her better. In the past four years she has served our district in so many different ways. She has been a member of the KPS District Security Committee, the KPS Social Emotional Behavior Committee, and the KPS Assessment and Academic Intervention Committee, to name a few. Recently she was charged with the task of helping a team of teachers to bring the district together on choosing an ELA curriculum amidst some controversy with the subject matter of the materials. Mrs. True became someone that others listened to for advice and guidance and helped point the teachers, as well as the community, in the right direction.”

Mrs. True received her Bachelor of Arts in Education in 2007 having graduated from UNK with endorsements in early childhood and elementary education. She went on to further her education, receiving a Master of Arts in PreK-Grade 12 Reading in 2012, and then in School Principalship in 2018, both from UNK.