Two veteran administrators have been recognized by the Maine School Superintendents Association for their leadership, service and strong educational programs.

Superintendent Rick Lyons of SAD 22 (Hampden area) and Superintendent Jeannette Condon of SAD 20 (Fort Fairfield) received the Outstanding Educational Leadership Award last month during a conference in Bar Harbor.

The gathering for superintendents and assistant superintendents was held by state Education Commissioner Susan Gendron.

Lyons and Condon were nominated by their regional superintendents’ associations, then selected by the state association’s 15-member executive committee, which represents administrators from throughout the state.

Nominees for the annual award are judged on how they have met the needs of students and how they have affected education outside their districts. Their service to the association and the strength of their educational programs also are reviewed.

The award is significant because “it’s being recognized by your peers for outstanding service to education,” said Dale Douglass, executive director of the Maine School Management Association, which represents school boards and superintendents.

“It really is a recognition that you and your school system have exemplary programs,” he said Tuesday.

Lyons, who oversees schools in Hampden, Winterport and Newburgh, is chairman of the MSSA’s professional development committee and is a member of the group’s executive committee and action committee.

In addition, he is a member of the board of directors of the Maine Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development and of the governing board of the American Association for School Administrators.

Lyons cited the district’s two middle schools as examples of strong educational programs. Both Reeds Brook Middle School in Hampden and Samuel L. Wagner Middle School in Winterport have been accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, a status few middle schools in the state have achieved.

In addition, the district recently implemented an all-day kindergarten program.

Condon is secretary-treasurer of the Aroostook County Superintendents Association and serves on the steering committee of the Aroostook Regional Teacher Development Center.

She also is a member of the commission for the New England Association of Schools and Colleges.

Condon cited a project run by the district’s alternative high school called Students Making a Living as an example of exemplary education. Through the program, students manage a for-profit bakery and supply food to the community.

Also receiving the award last month were Larry Littlefield, superintendent in Kittery, and Richard Abramson, superintendent in the Readfield area.