2020 Person of the Year Nominee: Linda Crawford

Alexis Barker
NLJ News Editor
 
Not all superheroes wear capes and not all News Letter Journal 2020 Person of the Year nominees made impacts on a large portion of the county. That is the case with Linda Crawford, principal at Upton High School. According to her nominator, Crawford is a “hidden gem.” 
“As the principal of Upton High School, she is a wonderful mentor to teachers and students,” nominator Christina Parks said, noting that Crawford goes above and beyond to make sure
her children feel appreciated and loved. 
“She has encouraged their growth not only as students but also as young men,” Parks said. “My oldest son dropped out of high school for nearly two years in Las Vegas. After I finally convinced him to move to Wyoming, Mrs. Crawford had the biggest impact in ensuring that he graduated. She arranged his schedule so he could finish two years in one, and he did so well under Mrs. Crawford’s leadership, that he earned that Hathaway Scholarship.”
This, Parks said, is more than a principal is required to do. This is something done by someone who truly cares about the future of her students. 
“Mrs. Crawford might have been more happy than I was when she called his name at graduation,” Parks said. “Joshua’s high school diploma is because of Mrs. Crawford.”
According to Parks, there are so many reasons that Crawford should be recognized for her dedication to the community, and they aren’t all on a personal level. She said that throughout this year, in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic and changes to public schooling, Crawford has gone above and beyond for students, teachers and parents, providing amazing leadership for all of her staff. 
Crawford said that she was overwhelmed by the nomination and that she was just doing her job: to see students and teachers be the best they can be. 
“My drive comes from my compassion and my desire to see kids be the best they can be. Sometimes for different kids that looks different, depending on what they need,” Crawford said. “It is important to me that we provide those opportunities, whatever a child might need to be successful. I want to look at each individual kid and say, ’What do they need and how can I help them?’” 
Her passion for the youth in Upton has continued throughout the pandemic, but Crawford said that she only did what everyone else did — and that was to go above and beyond to make things as normal as possible for not only the students but also the teachers. 
“I wanted to do whatever I could do to support them (teachers). I know teachers are stressed, and if I could take anything off their plates, to take away anything that didn’t need to be there, I was going to do that,” Crawford said. “I needed to communicate and encourage.” 
The principal added that the face of public education is constantly transforming and COVID-19 just brought on another reason for educators to adjust the way they were teaching. 
“We are always changing how we are providing education. In dealing with that, it is amazing how strong our teachers are, and it is amazing how much better they get through every change we make,” Crawford said. “It was about putting the pandemic into perspective.” As a parent of a teacher, a grandparent of students and an advocate for educators, Crawford credits her sensible approach to handling the changes to her ability to see things from every angle. 
“I was able to see things as a parent, things my daughter was dealing with as an educator and parent. It made me more aware of what the parents were dealing with,” Crawford said. “I did my best to listen to the parents, empathize with
the situations we were all in and think about what I would need if I was a parent in the same situation.” 
Crawford said she did not think the nomination was deserved and that there are “probably lots of people in the county doing more amazing things than I do.” 
“I am just overwhelmed by the recognition and honored that Christina took the time to nominate me for this,” Crawford said.