Pasadena Park Principal Wins St. Patrick’s Day Parade Honors

Pasadena Park Elementary School Principal Larry Bush doesn’t care so much about wearing green.

He cares about long underwear. And he cares about being warm.

Bush will ride in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade, named the winner of the Principals on Parade contest sponsored by TCI, Spokane’s cable television provider.

Teachers at Pasadena Park did a good job of keeping Bush’s award secret, he said.

“I didn’t have a clue. I think it was Tuesday or Wednesday they finally brought me in on it.”

But more than one secret has been kept this week at Pasadena Park.

The students did a special paint job on a Jeep that Bush will ride in today. Each student applied a colorful handprint to the Jeep - all without the children knowing that the Jeep was for Bush to ride in the parade.

That’s because the school wanted to surprise two students whose winning essays captured the St. Paddy’s Day honor for Bush.

At least half Pasadena Park’s students wrote essays saying why Bush is a great principal. Two of those, by fourth-grader Christine Meredith and first-grader Kayla Ramarez, were named the winning essays.

An assembly on Friday unveiled both secrets to all the Pasadena Park students.

Bush has been principal at Pasadena Park for five years and has worked in West Valley School District 16 years in all. Before becoming a principal, he was an elementary school counselor.

And does the blond principal have any Irish blood?

“No, a little German and Swedish” Bush said. “Maybe there’s some Irish in there. I’m a Heinz-57 mix.”

, DataTimes