BOX ELDER - Ruth Claeys' warm smile easily reassures visitors entering Badger Clark Elementary School that they are welcome and important. Everyone who enters the school - whether they're a visiting senator, one of the school's 380 kindergarten and first-grade students, a member of the school's staff or a parent - is treated with sincere courtesy and respect.

Claeys' sincerity is just one of the many qualities that have earned her the title of South Dakota's National Distinguished Elementary School Principal of the Year. Claeys will represent the state at a meeting of the National Association of Elementary School Principals next fall.

"She is a wonderful leader. She fully deserves the award," Douglas School District superintendent Loren Scheer said. "She is able to work with all kinds of people. She does a wonderful job."

Claeys is the first Douglas principal recognized with the state award.

"It's pretty awesome to be the first one from Douglas," Claeys said.

Claeys began her career as an elementary teacher at Barnard, after graduating from Northern State University in 1969.

"That was my first introduction to a female principal," Claeys said. "Until then, I thought only males could be principals."

Her teaching career included a stint as a vocal-music teacher at an American school in Germany, along with jobs in South Dakota and Nebraska.

Claeys was the elementary school principal for the Emerson-Hubbard School District in Emerson, Neb., before working as an alternative learning center principal and elementary school principal in Winner.

She became principal at Badger Clark in 1994.

"I applied for it on a lark," Claeys said with a smile, joking that as a child, she always pictured herself as a nurse. "I grew up with five brothers who were always bloody, and I was always taking care of them."

Now, she cares for almost 400 5- and 6-year-olds at the beginning of their academic careers.

Every year is rewarding as new children come and grow under her watchful eye, she said. "The growth is enormous at this age, especially at kindergarten."

At Claey's recommendation, the Douglas School Board adopted a full-day kindergarten program in 1999. The results have been rewarding, she said.

The curriculum is challenging, but within months, kindergarten students have progressed from learning to hold a pencil to writing upper- and lower-case letters, counting to 20 and beginning to write.

As the school year comes to an end, those same little ones are writing pages "unlike anything you have ever seen," she said.

"It's like you open that window for them, and they're sieves," Claeys said. "They can't wait to take it all in."

It's amazing watching students grow and develop, she said, but it doesn't always come without trials and tribulations, especially for the children's teachers.

"My job is to support them whenever I can," Claeys said.

If a teacher needs a quiet corner to decompress at the end of the day, her door is always open. Those are some of the best times for Claeys and the individual members of her school family, she said.

Nurturing her staff as well as her students is part of the job that Claeys takes very seriously.

Claeys is great at team building and setting goals for her staff and helping them achieve those goals without getting distracted, Scheer said. "She is able to focus their attention on the overall big picture of what they should be doing in her building."

Claeys, who has a specialist certification in education administration, also wants the best for her staff. With her support, two classified staff members have earned associate's degrees, five completed their bachelor's degrees and 19 teachers have earned their master's degrees.

"She wants the best for her students and staff," secretary Lisa Thompson said. "She is always encouraging us to better ourselves through classes, conferences and taking on new challenges in our jobs."

As the supervisor of 30 teachers, Claeys guided her teachers through difficult budget cuts that saw their class sizes increase by as much as five students. Teachers also lost the help of instructional assistants and general educators.

The staff at Badger Clark is a family that takes care of each other and is always willing to pitch in and help each other, she said. The staff puts in long hours, coming in at night and on weekends.

It's the dedication that keeps her coming back every year, she said.

"When you have that kind of dedication, how can you not want to be there?" Claeys said. "It's the payoff."

Claeys and her husband, Don, have two grown children: a son, Joseph, and a daughter, Amy, and Amy's husband, James Ross. They all live in Colorado.

Claeys spends her free time "doing anything outside," including hiking, biking and even running a few marathons.

Contact Andrea Cook at 394-8423 or andrea.cook@rapidcityjournal.com