Greensboro, N.C. — Donna C. Peters, superintendent of Montgomery County Schools, was named the 2010 A. Craig Phillips North Carolina Superintendent of the Year at a ceremony on Tuesday in Greensboro.

Peters has been superintendent of Montgomery County Schools since 2006. Prior to that, she served as superintendent of Rutherford County Schools in Forest City.

“Dr. Donna Peters, like the late President John F. Kennedy, lives by the creed ‘a child mis-educated is a child lost.’ She has spent her entire professional career saving children,” said Bill McNeal, executive director of the North Carolina Association of School Administrators.

Peters was honored for her work over the last three years with the implementation of a five-year strategic plan for the school system. The judges said Peters’ work has greatly affected student achievement.

The award was given jointly by the NCASA and the North Carolina School Boards Association. Brady Energy Services sponsored the event and provided $5,000 to the winner.

The other state Superintendent of the Year nominees included Ed Davis, Union County Public Schools; Peter C. Gorman, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools; Carl E. Harris; Durham Public Schools; Jack Hoke, Alexander County Schools; Timothy S. Markley, Catawba County Schools; Allan T. Smith, Edenton-Chowan Schools; Dan Strickland, Columbus County Schools; and Ronald Wilcox, Madison County Schools.

Peters moves forward to compete for the National Superintendent of the Year honor, which will be given at the American Association of School Administrators’ National Conference on Education Feb. 11-13, 2010, in Phoenix, Ariz.