SCASA honors Cariens, Coon as Principals of the Year
November 30, 2015
The South Carolina Association of School Administrators named Sherry Cariens, principal of Oak Grove Elementary School, the 2016 Elementary School Principal of the Year and Dr. Bill Coon, principal of Meadow Glen Middle School, the 2016 Middle School Principal of the Year.
During her 41-year career, Sherry Cariens has served as a teacher, assistant principal and principal. Before joining Lexington One as a teacher at Oak Grove Elementary in 1976, she taught in Gaston County, North Carolina.
Cariens was promoted to assistant principal at Lexington Middle in 1981 and to principal of Lexington Intermediate in 2006. In 2010, she moved to Oak Grove Elementary as principal.
Cariens holds a Bachelor of Science in Education degree from Appalachian State University, and a Master of Education degree and an Educational Specialist Degree from the University of South Carolina. She has elementary administration and supervision, secondary social studies and mathematics and superintendent certifications.
The 2014 recipient of the district’s Joseph M. Bedenbaugh Administrator of the Year Award, Cariens is a member of the South Carolina Association of School Administrators, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development and the Palmetto State Teachers Association.
With 30 years of education experience, Bill Coon has served as principal of MGMS since 2011. Before that, he came to Lexington One as principal of Pleasant Hill Middle School in 2005. In fact, he opened both schools and brought Expeditionary Learning to MGMS, the district and the state.
Coon began his education career as science teacher and coach at Robert E. Lee Academy in 1985. He moved to Monroe Academy in 1986 and to Sumter High School in 1989. Coon was promoted to assistant principal at Alice Drive Middle School in 1995 and to principal there in 1998.
Coon has his bachelor’s degree from Presbyterian College, his master’s degree from Norwich University and his doctorate degree from Nova Southeastern University.
Coon currently serves on the SCASA Middle Level Executive Committee and the Staff Parish Relations Committee Board at Mt. Horeb United Methodist Church. He also served as Lower Midlands Director for the South Carolina Association of Middle Level Education, sat on the board of the Center for Educator Recruitment, Retention and Advancement, and chaired the School Leadership Executive Institute group made up of past Tenenbaum Award winners.
He is a member of the National Association of Secondary Schools Principals, the South Carolina Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, the South Carolina Association of School Administrators, and the South Carolina Association for Middle Level Education Association.
