Field principal recipient of Evangel University Alumni Association President’s Award
September 22, 2009
Contact: Paul K. Logsdon, Director of Public Relations and Publications (417) 865-2815, ext. 7292
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Dr. Nancy (Snook) Colbaugh will be presented the 2009 Evangel University Alumni Association President’s Award on Friday, Oct. 9, during homecoming chapel service.
Dr. Colbaugh has served as principal at Eugene Field Elementary School in Springfield, Mo., since 2001. In February 2009, Field became the first elementary school in Missouri to gain International Baccalaureate World School Recognition Status.
In 2001, 2002 and 2003, Field was listed as a Top 10 School in Missouri. In 2003, Colbaugh was recognized as Missouri’s National Distinguished Principal by the U.S. Dept. of Education and the National Association of Elementary School Principals.
When Field’s enrollment numbers began to drop due to an aging neighborhood, Colbaugh began to investigate the inquiry-based International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme, based in Geneva, Switzerland. In 2006, she piloted the IBPYP at Field.
According to Colbaugh, the transition was not easy. “Some teachers and parents had a difficult time adjusting to the idea of our movement into inquiry-based learning, and there was staff turnover. I really struggled personally,” she says. “I knew it was either the best thing I’d ever done, or the worst.”
Now, five years into the program, Colbaugh says there is no doubt that moving to the inquiry approach and adopting the Primary Years Programme at Field was a good choice. “The growth and professional development of teachers, the depth of learning by students, and the popularity of the program have been indicators of success,” she said. “While we focus on ‘student learning’ rather than ‘student achievement,’ our school has made gains on the state assessment.”
Colbaugh graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Evangel in 1970. She holds master’s and specialist’s degrees from Missouri State University and her doctorate in educational leadership from University of Missouri-Columbia. She has been serving as a principal or teacher in the Springfield Public School system since 1983. She also taught music at Missouri State University’s Greenwood Laboratory School for three years.
Evangel roots run deep
Evangel roots run deep in the Colbaugh family. Nancy’s husband, Dwight, is a 1967 graduate. He is a former campus pastor and is currently an assistant professor of theological studies at Evangel.
Dwight and Nancy’s three daughters and two of their sons-in-law are alumni of Evangel: Dove Award-nominated singer/songwriter Sara Groves ’94 (Troy ’93), Julie Fillweber ’96, and Katie Hoover ’00 & ’05 (Sam’02). In addition, Dwight’s parents, Lloyd and Nita Colbaugh, are former faculty and staff members of Evangel.
Dr. Colbaugh has also been an active member of Central Assembly of God, where she has directed various choirs for more than 20 years and is currently serving on the board of deacons.