North Kansas City Schools Staff Kudos

District Leaders Earn Doctorates
Leigh Anne Knight, assistant superintendent of 21st Century Learning, has earned her Ed.D. in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies from the University of Kansas.



Gretchen Anderson, principal at Fox Hill, has earned her Ph.D. in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies from the University of Kansas.

Eastgate Home to Diversity Council
Educator of the Year
The Northland Diversity Council honored Lory Daniels, resource specialist family involvement coordinator at Eastgate, with the Council's Educator of the Year award. The award was presented in March to Daniels for her outstanding contributions to the multi-cultural students and parents at her school, and for working to bring parents into the schools to interact with their children.

Mark Mundell Named Missouri Athletic Director
of the Year
Missouri Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Assn. (MIAAA) has named Mark Mundell, Staley, the MIAAA 2010 Athletic Director of the Year. Mark has served in the North Kansas City School District for 24 of his 25 years in education.

Mark began his career in North Kansas City Schools at Oak Park High School. There he was head wrestling coach and assistant football coach. In his six years at the school, his wrestling teams took 3rd and 2nd place in state competitions, the highest place finishes at that time for Oak Park. Mark also was selected as the Missouri Class 3 Wrestling Coach of the Year in 1990.

Administrative opportunities took Mark to Winnetonka in 1992 as an assistant principal for discipline and attendance. In 2000, he was asked to take the helm as activities director at Winnetonka. Bringing back pride and student spirit was a focus, and by 2007, the notoriety of the student cheering section was making just as many headlines as the basketball team that ended a 25-year drought of conference and district basketball championships.

Mark is currently an assistant principal and activities director at Staley High School and has been involved at all levels of the IAAA organizations. He served as the Kansas City District president in 2004-05. He has served as the MIAAA Kansas City district representative since 2007. In this position, Mark serves as the NIAAA liaison and also heads the MIAAA scholarship committee.



John Watt Earns Prestigious Certification in Sports Field Managagment
John Watt, district athletic field manager, earned his CSFM certification in February. There are only 105 certified sports field managers in the country, and only two certified in Missouri. Watt had worked six years as turf manager for the NFL before coming to work for the district in 2007. He oversees all district athletic fields and the athletic field department.