River Valley Middle School principal receives statewide honor
Nov. 20—JEFFERSONVILLE — A local principal has received a statewide honor for her leadership.
Michelle Dyer, principal at River Valley Middle School in Jeffersonville, was named the 2023 State Principal of the Year by the Indiana Association of School Principals.
She received the award at Sunday's 2023 Principals of the Year Recognition Celebration. She was "stupefied" when her name was announced, she said.
"I was very humbled and honored that I was chosen, but you could have knocked me over with a feather," Dyer said.
Earlier this year, Dyer was also named District Middle School Principal for District 12, which includes Clark, Crawford, Floyd, Harrison, Jefferson, Ohio, Orange, Scott, Switzerland and Washington counties.
She was one of 12 candidates for the statewide award. She was nominated for the honor by River Valley's assistant principal, Trisha Armenta.
"I was in such great company up there with some really great administrators, and somehow I feel like they might come looking for me that they made a mistake," Dyer said.
She credits her success to her team at River Valley Middle School.
"It came to me as a singular award, but I didn't get there without my whole tribe," she said. "I do think it's a great honor for my teachers and my school that the work that we've been doing is recognized this way."
Dyer said she is there to support kids "no matter what they need."
"If the only thing you can say about me when I walk off this job is she loved those kids and everything she did was done with the question of 'how has this helped my kids,' then I will have considered myself winning in this career," she said. "That's why I do it."
