Lamar Middle School’s Principal Eric Ogle recently earned the Distinguished Administrator Award by the Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA) for his commitment to fine arts.

He received this prestigious award thanks to the choir, band and orchestrator teachers at Lamar. The group of fine arts educators wrote a compelling letter to TMEA expressing their sincere appreciation for Principal Ogle. 

The letter spoke of his personal philosophy: learning, growing and belonging for all. As one example of this belief in action, Principal Ogle provided substitute teachers for Lamar’s band teachers to observe a fellow band instructor at Duncanville ISD.

The teachers also expressed their gratitude in the letter for Ogle’s leadership by saying, “Something we really appreciate about Mr. Ogle as a campus leader and principal is his encouragement of independence and creativity to do the work that we want to do with our programs. Because of his great communication skills and deference to our expertise in our content areas, we feel extremely valued at Lamar Middle School.”

TMEA announced Ogle as the Distinguished Administrator this past December, an honor given annually to an upper-level principal for their support of fine arts. TMEA believes leadership plays a crucial role in the effectiveness, longevity and popularity of a fine arts program, which is a testament to Ogle and what he has accomplished at Lamar. 

Ogle is extremely grateful for this honor and proud of the middle school’s fine arts program. 

“I am extremely proud of our Fine Arts program at Lamar, and I believe our music teachers are among the best in the state of Texas,” says Ogle proudly. “I am very honored to work alongside and support them as they bring to life our school’s vision of ensuring learning, growing and belonging for our students.”

To learn more about TMEA and the Distinguished Administrator award, visit TMEA.org.