Catonsville Middle School Principal Earns State Award

For Gene Streagle, the executive director for the Maryland Association of Secondary School Principals, one thing that stood out in Michael Thorne's application was his short tenure.

Thorne, the principal of Catonsville Middle School, was nominated by a staff member to apply for the association's Principal of the Year for the state. He had actually been nominated last year, Streagle said, but he hadn't been on the job long enough to earn the award.

But his name was submitted again this year in his fourth year as principal, which is the minimum number of years a candidate must serve to be considered for the award.

This time, Thorne won.

"For someone in their third or fourth year to be nominated so early is really phenomenal," Streagle said.

Thorne was selected to represent Maryland in the MetLife NASSP National Principal of the Year program. He will be honored this weekend at the state association's annual conference in Columbia.

Streagle said what stood out to the selection committee was his emphasis on 'we' in the school community.

"He really wants every kid in that building to be known by him or a staff member," he said. "That's really special when someone takes those kinds of efforts to get to know the students."

Thorne said when he got the news he was surprised and honored.

"I still can't believe that I get paid to do a job that brings me so much joy in a community that I love with people whom I adore," he wrote in an e-mail. "And now someone wants to give me an award for that. It's hard to put into words how extremely blessed I feel."

The last Baltimore County principal to win the honor was Tom Evans for Eastern Tech High School in 2008.

Three national finalists at both the middle and high school level will be selected over the summer and interviewed in Washington, D.C.