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NEWS
Appleton, Wisconsin June 2017 Volume XXII
Issue VIII
Page 2
choices, the outgoing superintendent
had considered an accounting career
because of his interest inworkingwith
numbers but “ultimately I decided to
go with my heart, and education was
the direction. Even as a young man I
had a bulletin board in my bedroom
that I decorated with seasonal stuff
like you would have in an elementary
classroom, so my interest in educa-
tion goes way back,” added Allinger.
As he ends his career here inAASD,
Allinger has some important words to
share with us about the importance of
a public education and diversity, of
making mistakes and learning, of the
future of education and of the state of
the district as he leaves it.
The state of the district
“So much takes place before stu-
dents actually show up in our school,”
said Allinger as he spoke to the im-
portance of an early connection with
students. There is now a 4K program
and the district works hard to connect
with families and community agen-
cies, leveraging the “wealth of oppor-
tunity” that exists before school even
begins. “Certainly in the last decade
we’ve become far more connected
to children at birth to age 5,” added
Allinger. But the desire to be connect-
ed with students outside of the grades
K-12 realm exists not only before
but also after the standard schooling
years. The district has been involved
in strong career-based learning ini-
tiatives. “We want to be viewed as a
school district that helps kids be con-
nected to what their future could be
beyond high school.”
Among building strong relation-
ships and ensuring students feel safe
and welcomed in the district, it has
also been a focus of this superinten-
dent to educate “the entire child,”
which to himmeans that “our schools
play a significant role in making sure
that the arts are a valued part of what
happens not only in art class but inte-
grated throughout [the school].”
As the leading visionary for the
district, Allinger hopes that students
know this is a great place to make
mistakes, because he knows there are
multiple ways to show understanding
and that learning is not solely mea-
sured through tests. “Students are go-
ing to make mistakes; they’re going
to make poor decisions, and I hope
that we’re seen as a school district
that understands that and that works
with kids even when they might be
struggling the most, that we’re not
pushing them away or turning our
backs on them,” said Allinger.
Public education
Allinger places heavy value on di-
versity and hopes that students realize
as they graduate that diversity is our
strength. He describes public schools
as “perhaps one of the last places of
coming together, whether it be differ-
ent religious groups, different ethnici-
ties, different cultural experiences or
different political views.” AASD has
a priority pyramid that sets a safe and
welcoming community as the basis of
a successful district, leading to great
instruction and curriculum. School
vouchers, Allinger mentioned, he
feels hinder the coming together that
public schools offer. He’s spoken
with various legislators, including
Governor Scott Walker, advocat-
ing for public schools and educating
about the dangers the voucher system
can bring.
“I think people are more focused
on the money than on what philo-
sophically we want to try to create
in the school experience. I think that
[school vouchers] will lead to greater
segregation.” Allinger believes that it
is more powerful to learn about expe-
riences from real people and not by
solely reading it in a book. “I do and
I don’t get the whole idea that com-
petition will drive improving schools,
that’s a business model. We might be
better off to take a look at it as schools
share information. I think we’d be
better off ensuring that all students get
quality learning opportunities versus
going to a competitive model,” added
the superintendent. Speaking about
collectively sharing information as a
teaching model, Allinger also warned
against the system of merit-based pay,
deeming it “not a formula for suc-
cess.”
Future of public education
AsAllinger looks forward at the fu-
ture of education, he thinks there will
be a higher level of student respon-
sibility, integration of technology
and online courses, and expansion
of “anytime, anywhere learning.”
This anytime, anywhere learning is
facilitated by technology, allowing
students access to information and
school work at any point. Maybe high
schoolers would arrive at different
times with more flexibility in course-
work and class times, similar to col-
lege courses. “You’ll continue to see
technology pushing the bounds of the
typical school day and school year,”
said Allinger. As science advances,
Allinger also pointed out that our
understanding of brain development
will grow, especially in helping with
mental health issues. “Those types of
developments [in mental health sci-
ence] will help us better target strate-
gies to work with particular students
and their families, and hopefully im-
prove outcomes.”
What’s next?
“I love to bike. And it’ll be nice to
not have to go just on weekends or
high traffic times in the evening,” said
Allinger. Besides enjoying more free
time, Allinger plans to stay engaged
in the community through his in-
volvement with the Performing Arts
Center and the Bubolz boards. Both
he and his wife have an educational
endowment that will go towards en-
vironmental education and he plans
to have a different advocacy role for
public education.
Soon, his grandkids who live right
down the street will enter school,
and he plans to support them in their
schooling careers. “The school district
has allowed me to raise my family.”
Three of Allinger’s four children are
teachers, one is an artist, and two are
married to teachers. “I’m proud that
my kids are educators; I love to talk
to them about it. Two of them teach in
the school district, so I get complaints
from all angles,” he said with a laugh,
quickly adding that it was okay.
“I’m not necessarily thinking that I
have to be done with work; there may
be opportunities to serve in a differ-
ent capacity, most likely not in public
education but in some other way. I’ve
only known education, so it’s kind
of intriguing what other opportuni-
ties might come forward. I go to the
Copper Rock downtown almost ev-
ery morning to get my coffee, maybe
I’ll serve coffee there or something,”
he said with a smile. “I don’t think
I have the skills though,” he added
with a chuckle. But for now, he’s ex-
cited to travel with his wife. As the
job of superintendent is all-consum-
ing, they haven’t had the opportunity
to explore as much and plan to go to
Italy.
Last words of advice
For educators: “You’re so busy,
but what an incredibly valuable pro-
fession you’ve chosen. Thanks for
choosing it. So many kids are count-
ing on you to give us your best. And
your best is all you have to give us,”
Allinger said warmly.
For students: As he commented on
the number of opportunities avail-
able, Allinger suggested students
take advantage of them. “Don’t be
afraid of failure. I think this is the
place to do it. This a chance for you
to try things and don’t be afraid;
we’re going to be there to help you
and so are your parents — to pick
you up if things don’t go well in the
cross country race or on the play
stage or playing your bassoon or giv-
ing a speech or writing a newspaper
article,” Allinger said.
“It’s been my desire to connect
with individual students and staff.
That’s been really important to me.
I hope that people recognize, and I
think they do, that I’ve tried to keep
that [connection]. Everyone has
ideas, but we have 1,800 people on
our staff and I would hope that if I
had a legacy, if there’s such a thing,
it wouldn’t be a particular program
or project. It would be more about
the idea that to be a good educator
or good school district, you need all
1,800 people feeling that they can
bring their innovation and ideas to
work with kids. Every student is so
different in what they might need to
be effective, so I would hope that my
legacy would be around leveraging
the strength of everyone on our staff
and also in our communities.”
Ptacek
, Allinger, from page 1
“To be a good educator
or good school district,
you need all 1,800
people feeling that they
can bring their innovation
and ideas to work.”
Related Editorial:
Legacies of Education,
page 4
Related Stories:
Huggins
named assistant superinten-
dent, Mielke to retire, page 3
Related Story:
Herrling to
retire after six years as North’s
activity director, page 12
Related Story:
North’s Nurse
Dougherty to retire,
page 8
From substitute teacher to superintendent