Liberty Lake Elementary principal Linda Uphus was recently selected as one of 18 regional Distinguished Principals in Washington state as part of the Distinguished Principal Program.

Uphus has been a principal for 15 years, the last five at Liberty Lake Elementary. She began teaching in 1975 in Republic, Wash., and after a year was hired in Central Valley. She was principal at Chester and Sunrise elementaries before moving to Liberty Lake. She is a Central Valley High School alumni and also attended McDonald Elementary and Bowdish Middle School.

“I haven’t gone too far,” she said. “It was great to be a part of the Central Valley family again.”

Principals must be nominated by their peers to be considered for the award. Uphus said she’s not sure which of her fellow principals nominated her. “I was so pleased,” she said of her reaction to her title. “I was very surprised and humbled.”

She will now be considered for the state’s Distinguished Principal Award by the Elementary Schools Principals Association of Washington and the Association of Washington School Principals. The state winner will be considered for National Distinguished Principal.

Ready to Run

As spring creeps closer on the horizon, area elementary schools are once again signing up for the Fit for Bloomsday program. Students sign up to spend 10 weeks jogging and walking after school to get in shape for Bloomsday.

This year, organizers are expecting more than 60 schools to sign up to offer the program to roughly 6,000 kids. Parents can check with their child’s school to see if it is participating in Fit for Bloomsday or check www.bloomsdayrun.org.