Introducing the new Luther C. Klager Elementary principal and director of the Manchester Early Childhood Center

Widad Luqman, Luther C. Klager Elementary principal and director of the Manchester Early Childhood Center

submitted by Brad Bezeau, Manchester Community Schools superintendent

It is with great excitement that Manchester Community Schools welcomes Widad Luqman as our next principal at Luther C. Klager Elementary and director of the Manchester Early Childhood Center. The Manchester Community Schools Board of Education approved her hiring at the August 16, 2023, Board of Education Meeting.

Widad comes to us with a wealth of knowledge and leadership experience, and we are incredibly pleased to add her to our leadership, instructional, and Klager teams.

An innovative leader and educational justice advocate, Widad has spent more than two decades connecting diverse communities, closing achievement and opportunity gaps, and empowering people from all walks of life through education. Widad graduated from Wayne State University with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Elementary Education, Master’s in Bilingual/Bicultural Education, and an Educational Specialist Degree. She possesses endorsements in Early Childhood, Language Arts, and English as a Second Language, and is a certified administrator.

Her background spans multiple sectors and continents with experience in education, curriculum, assessment, professional development, and philanthropy. Her 23-year educational career began in Dearborn Public Schools as a paraprofessional and later as an ESL teacher. She transitioned to Saline Area Schools and later pursued administrative opportunities in Southfield and Hamtramck, where she led district transformation efforts and served as a director for curriculum, instruction, assessment, and professional development. She is a MiSTEM computer science facilitator, Project Lead The Way Master Teacher, and has recently been selected as a W.K. Kellogg Foundation Community Leadership Network fellow, an innovative fellowship for leaders to connect, grow, and lead transformational change.

Widad is also the co-founder of Coding Out of Poverty, a nonprofit organization focused on empowering people and creating equitable engagement opportunities in STEM/STEAM. She is a recipient of the Global Forum for Education and Learning Top 100 Leaders award. Her motto is: Learn. Teach. Travel. Repeat.

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by Sara Swanson

Sara Swanson is an editor, writer and founder of the Manchester Mirror.