Parkland School District Superintendent Richard T. Sniscak was named the 2016 winner of the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association’s Outstanding Superintendent Award.

He was nominated by the entire Parkland music faculty for recognizing the importance of music and the arts in school curriculum.

The award was presented during the PMEA annual conference opening session March 31 at the Hershey Lodge and Convention Center.

PMEA grants the award annually to a chief school administrator.

Sniscak has been Parkland’s superintendent since July of 2011.

He has spent 32 years in public education and is in his 22nd year at Parkland, where he also served as assistant superintendent for two years, high school principal for eight years and athletic director.

Sniscak graduated from Allentown’s Dieruff High School.

He earned a Bachelor’s degree from the Citadel – The Military College of South Carolina, where he majored in math and education and played football on a full scholarship.

Sniscak also earned a Master’s degree in educational leadership and a superintendent’s letter of eligibility certificate from Lehigh University and has completed 54 credits toward a doctoral degree from Nova Southeastern University.

Dr. Scott Watson, Parkland music teacher, commented on Sniscak’s support of the arts.

“The mark Rich has made during his tenure has been to establish his strong support for music and the arts and to find both pragmatic and creative ways to shore up funding to ensure there has been no cuts in program offerings,” Warson said.

Participation in music ensembles has either been maintained or increased.

Most notably, the high school marching band has grown from about 50 members in 2010 to more than 260 members in the 2015-16 school year.

The marching band, which used to meet before or after school, now meets during the school day to allow all students to participate in the program without interfering with other clubs, activities and sports.

It also requires any student who takes band as a class to participate in marching band.

Every year, Sniscak chooses a theme for the entire staff to be inspired by and to follow.

This year, he selected the theme “Academics, the Arts, Athletics...Educating the Whole Child.”