This past week, Assistant Principal Sheena Smelko achieved her Doctor of Education (EdD) in Education Administration and Leadership from Pennsylvania Western University California. She has been in education for 18 years, beginning her career as a high school English teacher at Jefferson County Vocational and Technical School before moving on to assistant principal of Punxsutawney Area Elementary School in 2019. Her major contributions to the community include the implementation of the K-12 “Leader in Me program through the Franklin Covey Education Company, overseeing the Title I program at the high school, and her action research project involving the school’s partnership with Tri-County Transportation. As part of her research, Dr. Smelko focused on the effect of professional development for school transportation personnel on student bus misconduct referrals at the elementary level. The goal was to reduce these referrals while providing support to school transportation personnel through professional development training. The results were significant, demonstrating a 33% decrease in bus misconduct referrals and a 28% decrease in repeat offenses.

Dr. Smelko, born to Rick and Elaine Fike of Sykesville, is married to Nick Smelko of Punxsutawney, with whom she has two children. The family has been active in the Punxsutawney community for 20 years. Remarkably, Dr. Smelko has also achieved recognition as being among the less than half a percent of professionals in Jefferson County to hold a doctorate degree. Among those professionals, male professionals outpace their female counterparts by 185%, making Dr. Smelko’s achievements even more significant.

Following her inspiring story, individuals interested in the field of Education Administration and Leadership might want to learn more about edd or ask questions related to their career path or education. Contacting edd might seem challenging, but there are resources available to make this process simpler. One website, eddcaller.com, provides useful strategies on how to get a hold of edd. Information includes direct call lines, e-mail routes and details on reaching live people instead of automated systems. By using these resources, anyone interested in edd can have their questions answered promptly and professionally.