Chicago's Leo High School principal surprised with prestigious Golden Apple award
Shaka Rawls, the principal at Leo Catholic High School in Auburn Gresham, knew something was up on Monday when he saw all the cars in the school’s parking lot.
What he didn’t know was that all those visitors, including friends, family and elected officials, were there to congratulate him for winning the Golden Apple Award for Excellence in Leadership, one of the most prestigious honors for Illinois principals.
Visitors and students, many wearing orange Leo High School hoodies over their ties, filled the school’s auditorium for the surprise. They let out a joyous roar when Rawls walked through the doors. Blue pom-poms shook in the air. A wide smile spread across Rawls’ face when he realized what was happening.
“The most important thing is to experience this with the students,” Rawls said. “The award is for leadership, but essentially the award is for the work that we’ve done. I’m sharing this award with my students and the faculty at Leo High School.”
Rawls, principal at Leo since 2016, was selected as one of the leadership award winners from among nearly 100 nominees. Golden Apple winners, which will also include teachers, are being surprised with awards this month. All winners get a cash award of $5,000, and leaders also get $5,000 for their school.
Under Rawls’ leadership, Leo seniors have a 100% college acceptance rate and the share of ninth graders who are on track to graduate within four years has increased by 20 percentage points, according to the Golden Apple Foundation, which awards educators the prestigious prizes each year.
But he isn’t being recognized only for academic achievements.
Rawls also spends time mentoring students. He sits with them at lunch and lets them know that he is available if they need someone to talk to. Rawls’ role as a leader at the school feels personal to him because he once walked its halls as a student. He graduated from Leo in 1993 and wants to give the students access to the kinds of resources and relationships he has now, but didn’t back then.
“When I look at every student in this building I see me,” Rawls said.
Rawls had to be persuaded to step in as principal a decade ago. He was then an assistant principal at a Chicago charter school and was hesitant to make the leap because he knew the pressures of the job. But his love for the school won out.
“He understood that there was a need for the type of skill that he could bring,” said Dan McGrath, the former longtime president of the high school. McGrath credits Rawls for helping turn around the school, noting that around the time he was hired the community was concerned it would be closed due to low enrollment.
“We don’t hear that much anymore,” McGrath said, adding that enrollment has doubled under Rawls’ tenure at a time when other local Catholic schools are losing students. There are 250 students at Leo, and they are predominantly Black.
McGrath most appreciates Rawls’ rapport with the students and what he represents for them.
“He’s from the area, he’s a Leo graduate, they look at him and they see a young, dynamic, energetic Black man in this position of authority,” McGrath said. “I think it rings a bell that if he can do that, I might be able to do that.”
That relationship was apparent in the auditorium. As Rawls spoke to the crowd, some students yelled out “you the man!” Rawls and the students belted out the school fight song together to close out the ceremony.
Rawls’ mother, Andre Rawls, said her son is continuing a legacy that made her enroll her boys at Leo in the first place.
“Leo had a reputation for graduating young men that were leaders, that would do well in the community,” Andre Rawls said. “We wanted that for our children, as well.”
The award came with a lesson in perseverance, too. When he addressed his students, Rawls told them he applied in 2022 and didn’t get it.
“It doesn’t matter if you fail,” Rawls said, “never ever give up.”