After nearly 20 years working in education, Jessica Buchan of Renton High School has been named Washington State Secondary Assistant Principal of the Year.

“I was flabberghasted,” Buchan said of her win. “It feels like a fever dream like, did that really happen? It’s such an honor because it’s a big deal.”

Buchan was nominated by Gioia Pitts, the Renton School District’s chief of secondary education, who told the Association of Washington School Principals (AWSP) that Buchan “never gives up” and is passionate about making a difference in the lives of students.

“When discussing new initiatives, Jessica always brings the discussion back to ‘Is this good for kids?’ If it’s good for kids, it’s hard to go wrong,” said Pitts.

Originally from Albuquerque, New Mexico, Buchan started out as a language arts teacher in Renton for 10 years before working as an instructional coach in Federal Way. Though, she still kept those coaching skills when she became an assistant prinicpal, first at Dimmitt Middle School and then at Renton High School, where she’s been a co-assistant principal for two years.

While Buchan’s first priority as assistant principal is to support the principal, she says that she is also in charge of hiring, discipline and classroom observations, the latter of which she believes helped her get the nomination.

“I approach my evaluations from a coaching perspective,” she said. “My goal is to be in the classrooms so often that they don’t even notice when I enter the room. I always say ‘Even Serena Williams has a coach’ and so the question becomes, how do you create a space where [teachers] can be vulnerable and take chances?”

Buchan also said she works hard to build student connections, and tries to have as much of an open door policy as possible.

“I’m really happy because I knew this year’s 10th graders as sixth graders and I’ll be able to see them graduate. Following students from middle school to high school is so cool and a unique part of my story,” she said.

Since Buchan has been named Washington State Secondary Assistant Principal of the Year, she is now in the running to be named National Assistant Principal of the Year award by the National Association of School Principals (NASSP), which will be announced in early April.

I will go to conferences and I’ve been invited to Spokane,” Buchan said. “I hope to get to meet [the other Washington winners in D.C.], it would be cool to have Washington representation.”