Leadership Matters September 2013 .pub

49th Annual IASA Conference October 9—11, 2013 Click here to register or for more information

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 “ This is one of the most

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 Former superintendent Jim Burgett is now a hit on the speaking circuit.

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

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

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