D.202 administrator, Board of Education member earn statewide recognition

Plainfield – Mina Griffith, Assistant Superintendent of Student Services, and Rod Westfall, District 202 Board of Education Vice President, were honored with Distinguished Service Awards from the Illinois Chapter of the National School Public Relations Association (INSPRA) in May.

Griffith earned an Award of Merit in the Administrator category and Westfall earned an Award of Excellence in the Board Member category.

The Distinguished Service Awards recognize those who make a difference in their school communities by helping to promote public education and enhance its programs and services.

Tom Hernandez, Director of Community Relations for District 202, nominated Griffith for her work during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Griffith was charged with planning, coordinating, and implementing all health-related aspects of the response to the pandemic for District 202.

She provided strong leadership during a time of unprecedented uncertainty.

Griffith took on this challenge while doing her day-to-day work including overseeing aspects of student discipline and special education in the district and implementing full-day kindergarten.

Westfall is a “man of the people” who will do whatever he can to solve someone’s problem, Hernandez wrote in his nomination letter.

“His easygoing demeanor and candor make him easy to approach, knowing he will always do whatever he can to try to help,” Hernandez wrote.

School communicators from across the country judged the entries against a criteria of excellence, and only those receiving top scores received awards.

Griffith and Westfall were among more than 40 individuals and teams recognized with Distinguished Service Awards in categories including faculty/certified staff member, parent, and support staff member.