Christian Cordero, a fifth-grader at Lincoln Elementary School, took time out from eating his lunch to wax poetic about his principal, Shirley Stevens.

He likes her, he said, because she is funny. “We were on the grounds and she made a joke and everyone laughed.” He added, “She is honest and respectful, too, and makes everything we do a challenge.”

Schoolmate Wyatt Waggle, 11, chimed in: “She makes us practice a lot so we reach our goals.”

That in a nutshell is how many people, whether students or fellow educators, describe Stevens.

She is among three principals statewide who are finalists for Colorado’s top elementary school principal. They were chosen by the Colorado Association of School Executives. The winner will vie for the 2013 National Distinguished Principal award sponsored by the National Association of Elementary School Principals.

She isn’t resting on her laurels, that’s for sure. On Monday, she helped hand out spicy buffalo sauce and spooned pears onto kids’ lunch trays, followed by a turn at school-yard duty.

Stevens, who has been an educator for 47 years, brushed aside the accolades. “I didn’t do it myself. My teachers, staff and kids did. They are who I am and what I do.”

But her staff gives her the credit. “She turned the school around,” said teacher Tricia Wissinger.

“She’s a visionary. She has created a culture that all kids can learn, no matter their ZIP code,” said Jessica Guerra, a fifth-grade teacher.

Stevens came to Lincoln three years ago. More than 92 percent of the 180 students are impoverished. But in the past two years, Lincoln has jumped three rungs on the state academic ladder from “needing improvement” to “accredited with distinction.” The school’s third-, fourth- and fifth-graders had an 86 percentile growth in math last year on state assessments, the third highest in the state.

But all these honors are bittersweet reminders that there won’t be many more here. Lincoln will be closed at the end of the school year, and students moved elsewhere as part of a plan to deal with declining enrollment in the district.

Stevens, who has been a school aid and secretary, started her teaching career in New Mexico. At one point, she was an assistant principal in a Texas pre-school center that had 800 4-year-olds. “Having done that, everything else is easy,” she said with a laugh.

She is married to Ron Stevens, a retired engineer. They have two children and one grandchild. She’s been in D-11 for 12 years, including six at the former Longfellow Elementary (now home to Globe Charter School) and three as a K-12 administrator.

Even after decades as an administrator, Stevens, 65, says, “I like what I do every day and look forward to coming to school.”

Her boss, Jason TerHorst, a D-11 executive director of K-12 schools, says she is extremely knowledgeable about instruction and curriculum. “She has high expectations and teaches her staff how to incorporate the best strategies to meet the needs of kids.”

Teachers say they appreciate that she has provided them with a plethora of training and development. They call her a mentor.

“I’ve learned more here in three years than I have in the seven before that,” Wissinger said.

They say her quick wit and laughter are part of the mix.

They teasingly created T-shirts for her and the staff that say “S4,” which stands for “Shirley Stevens Says So.”

They note she is famous for “voluntold,” as in ensuring they volunteer for all sorts of things to help at school.

“We will be giving out yo-yos as MAP test prizes, and so she announced that I would be holding a yo-yo clinic,” Wissinger laughs.

Part of the sadness of closing Lincoln, Wissinger says, “is that we won’t be able to work with her.”

Stevens agrees that the closure is sad. The school has a long history in the community. Her grandmother was a kitchen manager at the school in the early 1950s.

She doesn’t know what she will be doing next year. Students will be dispersed. “My staff will be successful wherever they go.,” she said.

Yet the closure announcement didn’t end academic striving at Lincoln. Stevens didn’t let anyone mope — the mark of a true leader, the teachers noted.

“Instead, she went to Costco and brought in a big cake for us to celebrate all the successes we are having,” Guerra said.

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Contact Carol McGraw: 636-0371 Twitter @mcgrawatgazette

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