8
Burgett receives gift of inspiration, passes it on
Teacher, guidance counselor helped put speaker on path to become successful educator
By Michael Chamness
IASA Director of Communications
Jim Burgett can trace his success as an educator
to a teacher and a guidance counselor who both
went above and beyond their job descriptions. One
inspired him to become a teacher; the other may
have saved his life. Compassion was the key
characteristic in both.
“As a sixth-grader I was inspired by a teacher
who literally changed my life. His name was Mr.
Ruggles and he was what I wanted to become,”
Burgett recalled about his days at Cumberland Grade
School in Des Plaines. “I was a good student and
well-liked, but I had this back life that included an
alcoholic father and parents that didn’t get along. I
was a kid in need and Mr. Ruggles had a way of
making every single person in class feel like they
were worthy. He had compassion and understanding
for kids, and I had total respect for everything he did.”
A couple of
years
later,
Burgett’s
parents were
separated and
he
was
a
scared
and
confused 13-
year-old about
to enter Maine
Township West
High School,
with
its
intimidatingly
large, 4,500-student population. Enter a guidance
counselor the students called “Dr. Ben” because his
last name was so difficult to spell or pronounce.
“He probably saved my life. I was having a very,
very difficult time and I was really contemplating
some serious options, one of them being suicide,”
Burgett said. “That first meeting was just the normal
meeting to plan out the class schedule and stuff, but
he asked certain questions, honed in on something
and had me come back. He gave me skills, the
biggest one being coping with things you can’t
control. He taught me more than he ever knew.”
Fast forward several years and Burgett was
telling this story while conducting an Administrators’
Academy. A man in the back raised his hand and
with some emotion in his voice said that the
counselor Burgett was talking about was his father,
and one reason “Dr. Ben” was able to spot and help
with Burgett’s struggles was that he himself had
survived a similar situation as a child.
Boosted by that teacher and counselor, Burgett
went on to have an accomplished 38-year career as
a teacher, principal and superintendent, being named
the Illinois Superintendent of the Year in 2001, and
also attaining such honors as the Award of
Excellence from the Illinois State Board of Education,
the Administrator of the Year by the Illinois
Association of Educational Office Professionals, and
being named a Paul Harris Fellow by Rotary
(Continued on page 9)
49th Annual IASA Conference
October 9—11, 2013
Clic
to register or for
more information
Former superintendent Jim Burgett is now a hit on
the speaking circuit.
“
This is one of the most
challenging yet
opportunistic times ever in
public education. With all
of the current technology,
it’s our job to get kids
excited about their
educational opportunities,
to go from doom to zoom.
”
— Jim Burgett
