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Top photo on Page 13:
Former Illinois Superintendent of the Year and 2010 Van Miller Award winner and author Jim Burgett closed the
49
th
Annual IASA Conference with passionate remarks about leadership in challenging times, and he offered
attendees some basic tips developed from his 38 years as a teacher, principal and superintendent. Burgett
listed six steps that school leaders need to take to effectively lead their districts through trying times. They
included:
1. Transfer ownership of financial challenges to staff and to the community.
Burgett said this can
be done by explaining how the world’s economic crisis is the root cause of the financial distress that
has hit school districts. He noted that the ripple effect has resulted in jobs being lost, salaries being
decreased, the lowering of property values and, ultimately, the loss of some entitlements. By
explaining the events, Burgett said superintendents can help create what he termed a “whineless
connection” that teachers, faculty, staff and the community can understand is not the fault of the
school district or the community.
2. Focus on your mission.
He noted that if you cannot recite your district’s mission statement then you
really don’t have one, the point being that if the mission statement doesn’t guide everyday decisions,
then it isn’t being utilized properly. He used the mission statement of Galesburg District 205, created
by a student, as an example of a great mission statement that is used in practice there. Galesburg’s
mission is simply “Helping students achieve their dreams.”
3. Cultivate your Board of Education.
Burgett listed a few ways to accomplish this, including
coordinating the efforts of the board, teaching processes to the board, developing team spirit, building
consensus, inspiring confidence, trust and understanding, and moving mountains when necessary.
4. Be visible in the community.
He offered dozens of examples, but cited three of his favorites as
sliding into school events and shaking the hands of at least 10 people, preferably people he didn’t
already know, visiting each classroom the day before the holiday break, and presenting a
superintendent’s Student of the Week Award.
5. Eliminate the weakest links.
Burgett said education is a profession where we should not tolerate “C”
teachers, faculty, staff and administrators, that we should have “A’s” and should be leading the “C’s”
to become “B’s” on their way to “A’s.” If they refuse to meet those expectations, then they must be
replaced, he said.
6. Lead with compassion.
He said the key to leading with compassion was to try and understand what
teachers, faculty and staff have to go through in trying to be successful in their jobs given all of today’s
demands and pressures.
Bottom left photo on Page 13:
IASA President Dr. Steve Webb presents the honorary IASA gavel to
immediate Past President Dr. Kathryn J. Robbins. In his closing remarks, Webb
told a story about his late father, Bob Webb who used to be a teacher, coach,
athletic director and principal in Goreville for more than 31 years.
“A former student was visiting with Dad one day and he said, Mr. Webb, do
you remember back when I was in 5th grade and you got on to me for staring
out the window? You said, ‘Ricky, you’ll never make a living looking out the
window. Mr. Webb, do you know where I work? I work at the Marion Federal
Prison as a guard. These last two months I’ve been stationed at one of the
towers. Mr. Webb, I stare out those windows every day… and they pay me!’
“Dad died in 2006 but he got the opportunity for over a year to hear stories
like that and many others of the lives he so passionately cared about for all of
those years because that’s what we do as educators — we don’t just make a
living, we make LIVES!”
Bottom right on Page 13:
Several of the IASA Past
Presidents were in
attendance at the 49
th
Annual IASA Conference.
49th Annual IASA Conference through the camera lens
