The Association of Wisconsin School Administrators (AWSA) and Madison Metropolitan School District (MMSD) hosted a special event at Cherokee Heights Middle School on Tuesday morning to honor Cherokee Middle School Principal Dr. Anuradha Ebbe as AWSA’s 2021 Wisconsin Secondary Principal of the Year.
Ebbe thanked her students and staff at Cherokee Middle School, located on Madison’s west side, who she noted “really influenced my leadership.”
“Listening to you and being with you has helped me grow as a leader and always will, so thank you for that,” Ebbe said. “I know it has been a very challenging last couple of years in our school and every school, but the thing that I know that has really kept us together is our community. We reach out to each other, we uplift one another, no matter what is happening in our school.”
As Cherokee Heights Principal for the past two years, Ebbe has focused on recognizing diversity as a strength, implementing equitable disciplinary practices and incorporating antiracist practices into the school while engaging the school community in a conversation centered on the book, “Stamped: Racism, Anti Racism, and You, by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi.”
“We always have our equity vision at the forefront — justice and anti-racist work. Do you remember when we did our whole-school ‘Stamped’ reading to define what anti-racism means for us? We’re continuing to build on that,” Ebbe said. “We are just at the surface. We’ve got a lot of work to do. So that is a huge piece of our work, justice for our LGBTQI+ community … justice and belonging for every single staff and student that walks through this door.
“So thank you. This is really a spotlight on the work that our students and staff are doing and I’m so incredibly proud of you and I love you very, very much,” she added. “I believe in you every moment.”
Jerry Pritzl, the president of the Association of Wisconsin School Administrators who is also the principal of Poynette Middle School, said that Dr. Ebbe is a “visionary leader” and will represent Wisconsin in Washington D.C. in October.
“She will be one of the 50 National Secondary Principals of the Year that will be honored there,” he said.
