Two State College School Administrators Recognized with Statewide Honors

Two State College school administrators have received statewide awards from professional associations, the school district announced this week.

The administrators are Megan Schaper and Ed Poprik, the State College Area schools’ directors of food service and physical plant, respectively.

The School Nutrition Association of Pennsylvania honored Schaper, named the group’s director of the year for 2012. According to a news release, the association chose Schaper in part for her innovation in food service and her attention to trends.

She will be presented with the award at a conference in August in Hershey.

‘Winning this award is really nice, but the fact that my staff felt that I deserve to be nominated … is especially meaningful to me,’ Schaper said in a district-provided statement. ‘ … As a partner in education, we are committed to providing students and staff with wholesome, appetizing and nutritious school meals.’

Poprik, meanwhile, has been named the 2012 Gary E. Reeser Memorial Award winner, issued by the the state Association of School Business Officials. The award is the highest honor granted by the association, according to a news release.

Created in 1977, the honor recognizes leaders for their ‘professionalism, superior job performance, development of innovative ideas and contributions to the profession of school business management,’ the release reads. The honor is named for a late executive director of Central Susquehanna Intermediate Unit No. 16.

Poprik has been the State College schools’ director of physical plant for 15 years. Among his work outside the district, he served on a document-review team that created the ‘Planning Guide for Maintaining School Facilities.’ It was published by the state Association of School Business Officials in 2003.