Heavilin leader strives to be responsive to changing needs
Bonnie Stephens, principal of Heavilin Elementary in Valparaiso, said successfully navigating the pandemic months of the past two school years makes her honor as 2021 State Elementary Principal of the Year an added achievement she happily shares with her school community.
“In schools, we work to build community and bring people together, so this aspect of COVID has been a challenge,” Stephens said.
“Learning from home was a challenge. In Valpo schools, we did comparatively less at-home learning than some other schools. The most difficult part of COVID has been helping families feel safe and comfortable with their children at school. The COVID experience is very different for different people and has caused divisions where there have not been before.”
On Nov. 21, the Indiana Association of School Principals named Stephens the 2021 State Elementary Principal of the Year, as well as District Elementary Principal of District 1 of Northwest Indiana, which comprises Jasper, Lake, Newton and Porter counties. The honor was announced while Stephens was in Indianapolis last weekend attending the IASP Annual Fall Professional Conference hosted by IASP State President Amy Lunsford bestowing the award with Executive Director Todd Bess.
District Elementary School Principals of the Year are elected by their peers with one principal honored from each of the 12 districts prior to Stephens given the top distinction to represent Indiana at the National Association of Elementary School Principals National Distinguished Principal Recognition Program next year in the fall 2022. The Indiana Association of School Principals is a not-for-profit, professional association serving more than 3,200 building level administrators in Indiana.
Stephens, who grew up in Demotte, graduated from Kankakee Valley High School before earning her bachelor’s degree from Valparaiso University in 1997 and her master’s degree from Indiana State University in 2004 before her doctorate from Indiana State University in 2008. Her husband of 26 years is Michael Stephens, Associate Superintendent of Portage Township Schools and the couple have two sons, Jackson, a senior at Indiana University and Carter,
a sophomore at Purdue University.
“This is year five for us since Heavilin opened doors in August 2017 and prior to that, I was at Hayes Leonard Elementary from 2012 to 2017,” Stephens said.
“All of my principal experience has been at Valparaiso Community Schools, including my time at Thomas Jefferson Elementary from 2008 to 2012. Prior to that, I served as the Curriculum Coordinator for East Porter County Schools, and I was a math teacher for Hobart Middle School.”
Stephens said the arena of education continues to evolve and has changed considerably since her own youth.
“My elementary school principal was Mr. Ivan Van Essen from Demotte Christian School,” she said.
“He always seemed happy and upbeat and fun . ... He made each of us feel special and knew about our lives and our families. Today, teaching is different because we know more about the social and emotional needs of students and how to properly address those needs. We put time into teaching kids how to make and keep friends, how to set boundaries, how to calm their minds, and how to advocate for themselves. We have to be responsive to the changing needs of our students and address the whole child.”
Stephens said the biggest challenge for the future in education is one she doesn’t see any easy solutions to remedy in the near future.
“Staffing shortages and a teacher shortage nationally is why we need good people to commit to the profession in order to keep up the quality of the experience for our students and families,” Stephens said.
“In Valpo, we are a team and we work together, help each other, and push each other. It doesn’t quite feel right to be singled out for this honor when every accomplishment I am associated with has been done with a team, our students, staff, parents, other administrators and the community.”