Lottery Spokesman, Jake Harris, presents Michael Domagalski with his Excellence in Education check.

A St. Clair County educator who is known as a leader and a positive influence for students and staff has been honored with an Excellence In Education award from the Michigan Lottery.

The award winner, Michael Domagalski, is a principal at Palms Elementary School and East China Virtual Academy. Both schools are part of the East China School District.

The Michigan Lottery established the Excellence In Education awards in 2014 to recognize outstanding public-school educators across the state during the school year.

Winners of the weekly award receive a $2,000 cash prize. At the end of the school year, one of the weekly award winners will be selected to receive the Lottery’s Educator of the Year award and will receive a $10,000 cash prize.

Each winner also is featured in a news segment on the Lottery’s media partner stations: WXYZ-TV in Detroit, FOX 17 in Grand Rapids, FOX 47 in Lansing, WLUC in Marquette, WNEM-TV in Saginaw, and WWTV-TV in Traverse City. The news segment featuring Domagalski will air this evening.

Domagalski said his desire to have a positive influence on others attracted him to a career in education.

“I wanted to be an educator due to my strong desire to positively influence teachers, children, and the community. I continually strive to help them grow academically, socially, emotionally as well as be engaged in their school. Ultimately, as it pertains to children or students, seeing them gain confidence or understand something new can be incredibly rewarding and knowing that I made an impact on them to become successful citizens of society is the ultimate reward.”

Domagalski was nominated for the award by the parent of a student.

“Mike Domagalski, known to the students of Palms Elementary as Mr. D, is an amazing principal. He welcomes each student at the front door and says goodbye to them every afternoon. Mr. D is present throughout the school in so many ways. He is seen assisting the teachers as needed and engaging with every student that goes past him with a friendly wave, a high five, or with words of encouragement.

Mr. D is very active with the PTO. He helps with assemblies and fundraising, even letting the kids silly string him and duct tape him to the wall when goals are reached! Mr. D additionally participates in PTO events by running in the Palms Color Run and helping with the setup and tear down of the Mother Son Event and the Daddy Daughter Dance. Donuts with Grown Ups is an all-school event that Mr. D helps arrange, set up, and is present throughout, engaging with students and their loved ones.

On days that my daughter needs someone to talk to or has difficulty with another student the person she seeks to talk to is Mr. D. She tells me he always has some good ideas and talking to him makes her feel better.

If you are present at school functions, Mr. D will start the event with ‘ALL SET?’ All the students will respond with ‘YOU BET!’ The function will end with a classic Mr. D pep talk with the conclusion of ‘Don’t have a great day, make it a great day!’ Mr. D deserves this award. He is an educator students look up to and a leader his teachers and staff can rely on!”

Domagalski earned a bachelor’s degree from Central Michigan University and a master’s degree from Saginaw Valley State University. He has been an educator for 22 years, the last 13 years as an elementary and secondary school principal.

Excellence in Education award nominees are evaluated on the following criteria:

• Excellence – Their work consistently helps students and/or their schools or school districts advance to higher levels of academic achievement.
• Dedication – They consistently go above and beyond expectations to help students succeed.
• Inspiration – Their work inspires others around them to exceed expectations either academically or professionally.
• Leadership – They demonstrate clear leadership skills in their positions with their school or school districts.
• Effectiveness – The nominee’s work has clear and positive results on the educational advancement of students within the school or school district.