(Harrisburg, PA)—Joseph J. Foriska, principal of Stevens Elementary School in the Pittsburgh Public Schools, has been named president of the Pennsylvania Association of Elementary School Principals (PAESP) for 2001-2002.

Foriska previously served as principal of Langley High School, the Pioneer Education Center, Arsenal Middle School and Burgwin Elementary, all in the Pittsburgh Public Schools. Additionally, he was assistant principal of Prospect Middle School & Multi-Cultural Center and Knoxville Middle School, also in the Pittsburgh Public Schools.

Foriska has been a member of PAESP and the National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP) since 1990, and served on the PAESP Executive Board as the West IV Regional Representative. He previously served as an ad hoc member to both the PAESP and the Pennsylvania Association of Secondary School Principals’ executive boards and as state delegate to the NAESP and the National Association of Secondary School Principals’ conventions (for the past five years). In addition, he served on the PA Principals Association Conference Committee and was conference co-chair in 1990. He was also a panelist for the  “Aspiring Principals” workshop and a member of the PAESP Alternative Funding Committee.

Locally, Foriska served on the Pittsburgh Administrators Association (PAA) Executive Board as treasurer (1994-present) and first vice president (1991-1994). He represented the PAA on Meet and Discuss Committees, districtwide task force committees and Parent School Community Council Committees. He helped develop the PA Principals Association Western Office and initiated the present affiliation between PA Principals Association and PAA, bringing into membership approximately 212 new members.

Active in his community, he is involved in the Bethlehem Lutheran Church Council; the Mayor’s Youth Policy Council; his local community center’s Sheraden Homework and Computer Center (SHACC); Pittsburgh Public School’s Youth Crime Watch; and the Energy Conservation Organization.

A graduate of Edinboro University, Foriska received his M.Ed. and his Secondary and Elementary Principal and Education of the Mentally and Physically Handicapped Certifications from the California University of Pennsylvania.

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.