Title: Superintendent
Company: Hickman Mills School District
Location: Kansas City, Missouri, United States
Yaw L. Obeng, superintendent of Hickman Mills School District, has been recognized by Marquis Who’s Who Top Executives for dedication, achievements, and leadership in educational administration.
Mr. Obeng is an educator and school administrator celebrating more than 15 years as superintendent of several school districts. He credits his interest in the field to the encouragement of his high school coach, who suggested he look into teaching after a young Mr. Obeng expressed uncertainty about his future plans. By the time he was a teenager, Mr. Obeng had already been a tutor and mentor to younger students for several years, and he found the work to be a perfect fit for his skills and personality. He graduated from the University of New Brunswick in 1992 with a Bachelor of Arts in education, and earned a Master of Arts in educational leadership and counseling psychology from the University of Toronto in 1999. Mr. Obeng also holds Master’s Certificates in business administration, business performance and risk management.
In 2001, Mr. Obeng became the first principal of African descent in the Toronto School District, and by 2006, he had become Superintendent of Education for the Halton District School Board. Mr. Obeng briefly shifted his focus to higher education in 2015 when he joined the faculty of the University of Vermont. After two years as an adjunct professor, he returned to his first love, K-12 school administration, accepting a position as Superintendent of Schools in the Burlington School District. As of 2020, he is the superintendent of Hickman Mills School District, overseeing staffing and logistics for 13 schools and bringing student test scores up by 11 percent in mathematics and 10 percent in English.
Mr. Obeng is a member of the board of the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary School Education and was appointed to Mayor Quinton Lucas’ Mayor’s Educational Committee. As a part of his commitment to improving the lives of children and youth in his district and the broader community, Mr. Obeng serves as the director of the United Way and is the founder of the Above and Beyond Award Fund. He attributes his success to his persistence, resilience, and “global community” approach to education, and considers his greatest accomplishment to be the impact that he has had on the lives of students. In order to further his growth as a professional, Mr. Obeng is active in the American Superintendents Association, the Association of School Curriculum and Development, and the National Association of Black Educators.
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