Tonya Jolley-the journey

Hi, my name is Tonya Jolley. I have a plethora of roles--such as mom, wife, daughter, doctoral graduate student, and Principal--all of them make me very proud of the life I live.  I have a passion for life, work hard, and love to have fun being creative and thinking outside the box. 

 I currently work for Lincoln Public Schools and have done so for the past 11 years. Before transitioning into the Education field, I worked for the Gallup Organization for 12 years in several different capacities. My last position at the Gallup Organization was as a coordinator for marketing and sales in Irvine, CA. This position required close coordination with companies to improve work satisfaction. My leadership and organizational philosophies are a combination of my previous experiences in both the educational and corporate fields.

As a non-traditional student, I was very eager to become a teacher. I have taught special education for several years and after completing my Masters in Special Education and my Administrative Certification I was a Special Education Coordinator, and Vice Principal.

This academic year I started my 6th year as a leader as the Principal at Kloefkorn Elementary School. Kloefkorn is home to approximately 500 students in a higher-economic area in Lincoln, NE.  The journey to this role has been very rewarding and I find great passion in school-climate and culture, special education and job satisfaction in the work place.   I am a very novice researcher--my experience with The Gallup Organization will be helpful as I work towards my dissertation topic and finish my last course work over this next year.