Meet the New Pekin Principal

PACKWOOD – The new Pekin Elementary Principal, Liz Goodwin, grew up in Lisbon, Iowa. She studied Elementary Education at Coe College and received a Master’s in Educational Leadership from Northwest Missouri State. She has spent 18 years in education, the last seven of which at Washington Community Schools. She previously taught first grade, second grade, and was a therapeutic classroom teacher for grades 3-5.

“The unique experience at Lisbon, as a senior I was able to volunteer or peer help in a second grade classroom, and that really led me to become a teacher,” said Goodwin. “I just was very excited about it, even as a senior in high school. And so after that experience, I was like, ‘This is what I’m meant to do,’ and so far it’s worked out.”

“I just really like the small environment,” said Goodwin about why she came to Pekin. “I actually went to a small school that was K-12, in the same type of building, and I’m very blessed to be here and ready to start the school year off on a great foot...This year we have a new curriculum, inter-reading, so we really want to push that out and do that with fidelity. And then we’re going to work on some PLCs, which are professional learning communities for all of our grades and content levels. We’re really going to work on positive behavior expectations and do some PBIS, with some teaching on positive behavior reinforcement in the classroom.”