Those of you who reside in the “Twitter” universe will understand the meaning of 140 characters. For those of you not there yet, Twitter is a form of social networking and I use it to communicate with other educational leaders, family and friends. The writer, of what is called a Tweet, has only 140 characters to get their point across to the reader. With the risk of showing my age, as if my bald head and gray hair doesn’t already give it away, there used to be an article written every month in the Reader’s Digest called, “My Most Unforgettable Character.” As my time winds down at Okoboji, I’d like to share some of my most unforgettable characters. Space does not allow me to describe 140 of these people so I will only address a few.
One of the people who I have really grown to admire is Dennis Baschke. Not only is he my “go to” guy when it comes to buildings and grounds, he’s my “go to” guy when it comes to talking softball and athletics in general. As the old saying goes, “If you want to find a weed in the Okoboji school grounds, you have to bring your own.” The pride and care he and all of his staff put into this school is overlooked by those who take schools for granted, but certainly appreciated by those of us who notice such things. He’s a great guy who truly loves what he does.
One of my best buddies over the past seven years turns out to be Howard Titterington. Granted, Howard hasn’t driven a bus for us in three years but I sure enjoy visiting with him and listening to him tell stories about the schools and driving buses. Howard and his entire family hold very special places in my heart. Here’s someone who has given over 60 years of service to kids, making sure they get to their destination without incident. I consider both Howard and Roseanna as dear friends.
I believe that one of many strengths of this district lies in the administrative team. The combination of youth, experience, the idea of service, technology, and instructional leadership embodies our building administrators. Rob Olsen at the elementary, Ryan Cunningham at the middle school and Brian Downing at the high school each bring a unique perspective to the overall direction of this district. I have had the distinct pleasure of working with many fine administrators over my career but this collective group is special. Okoboji is lucky to have had fine administrators just during my tenure here, including
A school district is only as strong as the teachers we put in front of kids. I have said many times that the best public relations we can do as a district is to put a quality teacher in every classroom. We are blessed to have quality teachers in this district. The staff of teacher associates works equally as well with our kids. I firmly believe that people who work with kids have a moral purpose and that this job is about as close as you can get to having a religious calling in a secular position. God bless you all for what you do.
The kids of this district are the best. Every educator feels that their kids are great but having been in other districts, our kids truly are. I hope to find more kids like ours in my future. They truly care about each other, and particularly new kids. Victoria and I have witnessed this first hand with the addition of our niece Adriana moving in with us. She has been welcomed with open arms and we are truly grateful for that.
And for my radio buddy Ryan, irregardless of what people say, if we don’t follow the rules, we have anarchy. I’ve enjoyed every moment of those radio broadcasts. That was truly enjoyable, no matter how bad I messed up those poor boys names.
Thanks for the prayers and support that have been given to Victoria, Adriana and me. You have no idea how much that means.
