Guidelines for Writing Your Distinguished Principals Program Bio
Each Missouri Distinguished Principal is to submit a biography to be printed in the Distinguished Principals Program Booklet. This booklet is used to present the unique qualities of each distinguished principal to those in attendance at the Distinguished Principals’ Banquet. It will also serve as a keepsake. Therefore, it is important to spend time writing your bio so that it reflects positively on you. While MAESP reserves the right to edit bios for typos, grammar, length and content, it is generally expected the bio should be submitted in a format that can be copied and pasted into the booklet without changes. The following guidelines have been developed to assist you with writing your bio to be published in the Distinguished Program Booklet.
- The heading will include your name and MAESP District your represent. Be sure to type your name exactly as you wish it to appear in the program booklet – which may or may not be the same as you have printed on your plaque. In the program booklet, titles (such as Mr., Mrs., Dr., etc.) will not be printed in the heading. You may, however, use titles within the content of your bio.
- Bios should be written in third person.
- Use a Times New Roman 12 point black font.
- Single space paragraphs without indention.
- Add paragraph breaks (space) between paragraphs.
- Bios should be between 500 (recommended minimum) and 650 (maximum) words.
- You may include personal history and background, education/degrees earned, educational philosophy, school accomplishments and family information. Samples of previous bios can be obtained through MAESP.
- It is highly recommended you have someone else proof your bio before submission. Select someone who will view your bio with a critical eye and not just give it a quick once over!
- A high resolution digital photo in a jpeg or tiff format should be submitted with your bio. Photos should be either a studio or school photo – do not submit a candid photo. When you view the photo on your computer it should be crisp and clear – if not, it will not print clearly in the booklet. Do notembed the photo in the text document – it must be sent as a separate attachment.
Documents should be emailed to maesp@maesp.com. If you do not have a digital photo, or have the capability of producing one, send an original photograph (no smaller than 1.5” x 2.5”) to MAESP, 3550 Amazonas Drive, Jefferson City, MO 65109 and we will scan a digital photo for you.
