Students and faculty gathered Dec. 13 for an assembly during advisory period to be introduced to next year’s president of STA, Dr. Siabhan May-Washington. May-Washington will assume the position at the end of the 2019 school year upon current president Nan Bone’s retirement.

May-Washington is currently the Assistant Principal of Faculty Development at Pembroke Hill Upper School, where the students refer to her as “May-Wash.” She is also an adjunct professor at Park University and has worked at Lincoln College Preperatory, the Anderson Alternative School and Rockhurst University, giving her over 30 years of experience in the field of education.

“I just think education of young women is so super critical because there is lots of gender inequity right now in society,” May-Washington said. “We need strong, empowered women to advocate for a better society.”

An eight-person search committee began in the summer of 2018 by putting together a job description and press release. Michelle Wimes, who was on the President Search Committee, said they ended up with around 80-100 candidates. The committee surveyed the school community and found that they wanted to focus on someone with a background in education.

“One thing that stood out was [May-Washington’s] genuineness and her authenticity, she is so easy to talk to,” Wimes said. “I think we were all also impressed with her education credentials, having spent 15 years at Pembroke.”

May-Washington also attended both lunch periods to pass out “star cookies” and introduce herself to students on an individual level.