Two outstanding educators, including the immediate past president of the association, are receiving Distinguished Service Awards from AASA at its 2019 National Conference on Education in Los Angeles.

The 2019 recipients are:

• Dwight D. Jones, who serves as senior vice president of equity, inclusion and urban markets at McGraw-Hill Education. In this role, he works with leading national, regional and local associations and organizations to find new ways to partner together to address the needs of administrators, teachers and students in some of the largest and most academically diverse U.S. school districts. Most recently, Jones served as the superintendent of Clark County School District in Las Vegas, Nev. His other past positions include Colorado commissioner of education and superintendent at Fountain-Fort Carson School District Eight in Fountain, Colo.
• Gail Pletnick, an educational innovator with a demonstrated history of success. She served as president of AASA, The School Superintendent Association, in 2018-18, and recently retired from the superintendency. She serves as AASA co-chair of the Personalized Learning Cohort, a mentor for the 2020 AASA Superintendent Certification Program, the Aspiring Superintendents Academy® and lead superintendent faculty for the AASA/NAESP Aspiring Principals program. She was named as 2016 Arizona Superintendent of the Year and an Education Week 2014 Leader to Learn From.

For more details about the award and the honorees, see the official AASA press release.