(Harrisburg, PA)—The Pennsylvania Association of Elementary and Secondary School Principals (PA Principals Association) is pleased to announce that David Vodila, a PA Principals Association member and principal of Red Lion Area High School, has been elected as the 2004-2005 President-Elect of the 33,000-member National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP), Reston, Va.

Vodila was elected by a group of his peers during the NASSP National Convention & Exposition, February 27 – March 1, 2004, in Orlando, Fla. He will take over as President of the national association in 2005-2006. As NASSP president-elect, Vodila will lead an organization committed to providing a “national voice” on issues of the principalship to the halls of Congress, the White House and the news media.

According to Vodila, “The principal is essential to the well-being of the students in our nation’s schools. Our Association is vital to providing principals with the tools needed to complete their mission, and to protect the students that have been placed in their care.”

Vodila served the PA Principals Association (formerly the Pennsylvania Association of Secondary School Principals) as past president, president, president-elect, NASSP coordinator and as a member of the Executive Board. He was named Pennsylvania’s Principal of the Year in 1993 and received the prestigious Mamana Meritorious Service Award from the state secondary principals’ association in 2001. In 2000, he was responsible for originating the Pennsylvania Emergency Response Team (PERT).

Nationally, Vodila served on the NASSP Board of Directors since 2000, was chairman of the NASSP Finance Committee, a member of the NASSP Steering Committee and a member of the National Principals’ Emergency Response Team.

Vodila has been the principal at Red Lion Area High School since 1995. He also served as principal of Slippery Rock High School (1981-1995) and was the assistant principal at Washington High School (1976-1981).

He received his undergraduate and graduate degrees from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh.

For further information or to schedule an interview, please contact Sheri Thompson, PA Principals Association Director of Communications at (717) 732-4999 or e-mail sherit@paprincipals.org.

PA Principals Association’s mission is to: Assist members in fulfilling their role as instructional leaders and effective managers who promote the best educational program for all students; give members an effective voice in the educational decision-making process at the local, state and national levels; and improve members’ working conditions so that their rights are protected, their job descriptions are reasonable, the importance of their instructional leadership role is recognized and their salaries and fringe benefits are equitable.