Valley Principal Gets National Honor

Joan K. Elam, principal of James Monroe High School, is one of 10 educators in the nation named as a 1999 Reader’s Digest American Hero in Education, officials announced this week.

Elam, the only award recipient west of Texas, was lauded for innovative programs she launched and for reopening the school only one week after it sustained severe damage in the 1994 Northridge earthquake.

“I have a very energetic and motivated staff that meets the need of the students,” Elam said. “This award is a great tribute to everyone who has helped me make this a great school.”

Reader’s Digest has honored teachers and principals from across the country for 11 years. Elam, selected from more than 500 applicants this year, was nominated by Assistant Principal Pam Hamashita and Lynda Schwarz, the school’s magnet coordinator.

“Joan’s a mover and a shaker and makes things happen here,” Hamashita said. “The energy she drives into the school makes her worthy of the award.”

After a decade of duty as principal, Elam has seen many changes and has responded to the shifting demographics at the school, co-workers say. When she arrived in 1988, there were 1,700 students, a majority of whom were white. Today, there are 4,200, mostly Latinos.

Elam initiated many vocational classes, including aviation lessons, a class that builds race cars, and police and fire academies approved by Los Angeles police and fire departments. A day-care center that bears Elam’s name provides baby-sitting services for the children of students.

“Our school is so diverse in people, and the programs she started reflect that,” said Cindy Keyser, a math teacher at the school for the past 20 years.

The earthquake wreaked havoc at Monroe High, situated about a mile from the epicenter. Many classrooms and the gym were flooded. A gas leak ignited a fire in the multipurpose room. Still, Elam and other school officials rolled up their sleeves and cleaned the school. Although some buildings remained closed, the school reopened a week later.

“I wanted to provide stability in an otherwise unstable situation,” Elam said.

Reader’s Digest will present Elam with two checks at an assembly April 8. One check, for $10,000, will go toward the repair of old computers, which will be donated to students. A $5,000 check will be presented to Elam for her own use. She said she plans to use it on college scholarships for her students and seven grandchildren.