After being in education for 43 years, Joliet Township Assistant Superintendant for Business and Personnel, Richard Pagliaro receives the top honor of the International Eagle Award. 

Presented by the Association of School Business Officials, The Eagle Award is a prestigious honor given to the top school business officials in the world to recognize their lifelong dedication and commitment to students and their education.  This year, Richard was one of only four finalists in the world to receive the award.

Pagliaro was nominated for negotiating union contracts to pass a $24 million bond referendum.  Without cutting any extracurricular programs, Pagliaro rebounded the district from an $11 million deficit to $10 million in cash reserves.  Also with this honor, Pagliaro has received a $5,000 scholarship to present to a high school student along with an invitation to the ASBO International Eagle Institute. He was nominated for the award by the executive director of the Illinois association, Mike Jacoby.

“I feel that this award belongs to the entire district,” Pagliaro said, according to the Herald News. “Our administration, board of education, faculty, staff and bargaining units have always worked together as a team to fully utilize our financial resources.”

This was not the first of Richard’s experiences with such an honor.  Just earlier this year, Richard received The Monarch Award. This is the highest honor given out by Illinois to school staff.  Richard continues to exhibit recognizable behavior and has not given up on making JT the best it can be.