Cheryl Bower Is Presented the Shannon DeLateur Award for Career Achievement
Cheryl Bower, retiring principal of Sprague High School in the Salem-Keizer School District, is the 2009 recipient of the Shannon DeLateur Award for Career Achievement. This award is presented by the Oregon Career Information System (CIS) Board. Cheryl Buhl, Director of Oregon CIS, announced the award at a district principal’s meeting on April 15, 2009.
The CIS Board selected Cheryl Bower in recognition of her numerous contributions to the career development of Oregon youth during her career and for support of CIS in that work. Bower’s accomplishments involving CIS include two major highlights, one with her current district and one in youth corrections education. Prior to coming to Sprague High School, Bower was principal of Lord High School at MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility. While there, she worked diligently with the staff to develop a variety of programs and activities to connect academics to real life. Because of restrictions on the use of the Internet within MacLaren, she envisioned an Intranet version of CIS Online so that incarcerated youth could have access to quality career information and be able to build personal career portfolios that could move with them when they left the institution. This involved working with Oregon CIS and the Willamette Education Service District to secure equipment and software and to program CIS for delivery off-line. The program developed for youth corrections was later modified for delivery in the adult correctional institutions throughout Oregon.
During her tenure at Sprague High School, Bower oversaw the implementation of a restructured learning community that embeds career and educational planning as a key element. The school’s 150 staff members defined a collective vision - to create a community of educated individuals who understand themselves, their society, and the world and who have a commitment to make a positive contribution to all three. An important component toward realizing this vision was the use of Advisory Periods to provide students an optimum learning environment, to build relationships that foster the vision, and as a vehicle for addressing graduation requirements. CIS is an important tool in the Advisory Period activities. With the success of Sprague’s work, Bower then facilitated discussions and eventual adoption of CIS by the entire district and CIS has become an integral part of creating the Personal Education Plan-Profile for all Salem-Keizer students since the fall of 2006.
In presenting the award, Buhl reflected, “What has always impressed me about Cheryl’s work is that it embodies her belief in empowering individuals, both students and staff. She supports her school teams by providing time and resources; then she deals with barriers they might encounter. She is the ubiquitous cheerleader, encouraging accomplishment for individuals and groups.” Buhl also noted that Bower served on the CIS Board for six years.
The Shannon DeLateur Award for Career Achievement was first presented in 2003. It recognizes people whose careers have reflected a sustained commitment to improving the career decision-making and preparation of Oregonians. The award is named after Shannon DeLateur, retired administrator of Workforce Development for the Oregon Department of Corrections. Prior to this presentation, the award has only been given twice.