Administration On the Road

The Belmond-Klemme Administrative Team will be meeting with the community at various locations around the District.  Far too often, we create a meeting that is housed at one of the schools, invite people, and expect that they will miraculously appear to share their ideas.  Although this does happen, it is also our opportunity to demonstrate that we want to be available outside of the school buildings as well.  The reality of these meetings is that they are a starting point with which we hope to produce on-going conversations. 

Here are the dates, times and locations that you can find us.

• Wednesday, November 30th, 7:00 PM in Klemme - Klemme Public Library Community Room (Main Street)
• Monday, December 5th, 7:30 PM in Goodell - Community Hall (East end of Broadway Street)
• Wednesday, December 14th, 7:00 PM in Rowan - Rowan Public Library (Main Street)

At this point, we believe that all three administrators will be able to attend.  Although we do know things may come up, we have intentionally avoided nights that would likely cause a conflict for both the administrators and the communities.  Hopefully we will be successful in that endeavor.  You will be able to hear from:

• Mr. Mike Thompson - Principal of Jacobson Elementary School
• Mr. Eric Dockstader - Principal of Belmond-Klemme Jr/Sr High School
• Mr. Marshall Lewis - Superintendent of Schools

The format of these conversations may vary based on the number in attendance in order to keep our thoughts on target and at a personal level.  Planning for these evenings is very simple - we have booked locations and advertised the activity.  From there we want to be responsive to the questions of the community, give our honest feedback, talk with people about what they perceive, clear up vague areas, take suggestions and ideas, and maybe meet some people that we haven't yet at this point. 

Another point that you will notice is that there is not a meeting scheduled in Belmond, the largest of the communities that also is the home of both school buildings and athletic fields.  This is a conscious decision that is intended to emphasize the communities that are more physically distant from the daily activities of the school.  Travelling to these communities allows us the opportunity to hear what is going well and not going well from the perspective of those that have different needs than the Belmond residents.  We hope that residents of Belmond will also attend these meetings, but it will cause them to understand first hand the difficulties of doing so in our other communities. 

We hope that you will join us at one of these evenings, and we look forward to sharing what is happening at Belmond-Klemme and hearing ideas that you may have.  We are all members of this extended community of learning, and we are all interested in doing the best we can on behalf of the students we serve.

Read more »

School Board Convention

This past week, the Belmond-Klemme Community School District sent a total of 6 Board members, one Business Manager, and one Superintendent to the Iowas Association of School Boards (IASB) State Convention.  First, that represents a wonderful turnout for our community.  Only one member was not able to attend, and one did have to leave early.  With all of the things that these people have on their plates on a daily basis, I want to express how much I appreciate each of them taking making the time to join their colleagues in learning, conversing, and networking.

We heard a significant amount about the workings of a school board and what the expectations and responsibilities are of this governing body.  Also included were some basic explanations of how school finance works, which is really good as it is not a typically logical system.  In addition to board governance, there were some very good sessions and speakers.  Headliners Doug Reeves and Jamie Vollmer both drove home the fact that decisions that are made nearest the student have the most effective impact.  Outside of the home, that means simply that our teachers have the most impact and our government has the least.  At all levels, we tend to think about this in terms of positive impact, but we can also have negative impact on our students as well. 

We also heard from Governor Branstad, Lieutenant Governor Reynolds, and Director of Education Glass.  All three spoke to the Educational Blueprint of which we have heard a great deal.  Although all three gave speeches during the final general session, it was in an earlier session that Director Glass fielded questions.  It was also an opportunity for me to leave a comfort zone and ultimately laugh at myself.
Essentially, we saw yet again that we need to move forward instead of sit still, waiting for something to happen.  Again we have heard that it is imperative for our schools and communities to work together and build trust and relationships on behalf of our students.  Again we have been asked to step out of line, out of the box, onto the ledge, or into the unknown.  Again we saw the direction to abolish the current system and create a new one that is not an overhaul but a new structure.  Again we heard that this can't be done without the community (either local or as a state or a nation) leading the charge.  So what will the outcome be this time around?

A opportunity clearly worth the time, effort, and expense, the IASB Annual Convention gave us the venue to share, reflect, interact, and grow as a team.  Thanks to the Belmond-Klemme School Board team for the continued effort to support the students we serve.

Read more »

Public Speaking 101

For the first time in my career, I stood and asked a question in a room of that size.  Due to the layout of the room and my location, I was overlooked by the facilitator for quite some time, which both allowed me to jot a few notes and become more nervous as I looked out over the number of individuals in the room.  Believe it or not, given my long-windedness, public speaking is not something that I'm comfortable with at all.  So, of course I started by thanking Dr. Glass for being visible around the state and for asking the questions to those in the field of education...and then remembered that I forgot to follow protocol and introduce myself.  So from a darkened corner of the room (ok, maybe that's overly dramatic) came my unidentified voice with a compliment, a reference to a previous speaker and a question that probably sounded like a dare.  Although not a direct quote, this would be close:  "So the first goal of the Blueprint is to put a great teacher in every classroom and a great principal in every building.  Why do you believe that we can't do that now?  Is it due to poor preparation, lack of training, lack of capacity, lack of direction, lack of support, incapable individuals, or unmotivated people?"  Yes, I had the list scrawled on a sheet in front of me.  The moderator asked me to repeat the options, referencing the fact that I must have had a list.  Instead, I responded, "What I'm saying is that we have thrown money at teachers thinking that will make a difference.  We've added rules and regulations to hold all accountable.  Yet we are here again.  Why will this be any different?  What quality in our people are we trying to address?"  A little bit of almost conversation allowed me to invite anyone on the stage to Belmond-Klemme (Yes! I at least remembered to say the name of the school!) to view hard working teachers and educators.  Why do we think that we don't have these people around (note that I'm not saying that every teacher in every classroom across the state is great) our students?  Essentially the answer was that we have good people, we need a good structure, and none of us involved in the blueprint would ever say otherwise.  Good, political answer that didn't really answer the question.  Not that I expected differently, but I was hoping.  It did allow me, however, to awkwardly face a fear I have and somewhat address it.  A few individuals found me to follow up with a question of their own or a comment that caused a conversation to ensue.  Most of these were actually based on the topic and caused me to again refine my thoughts...although forgetting to introduce myself did bring a few of my colleagues around primarily to remind me of my memory loss. 

Read more »

Change is Good

In a world of exponential and aggressive adjustments to our way of life, it is with some embarrassment that I must confess that I too sometimes don't like change.  I like my routines.  I like to know what I'm doing.  I like to have a sense of comfort in my actions.  In all honesty, that seems to make sense, and it would be my belief that it would put me in a solid majority of people with similar thoughts.


At the same time, it is imperative that I step out of that comfort zone and into the challenges that exist.  It isn't hard to imagine that if you don't keep up, you get run over.  At the same time, several of us would like to do just that - stay with our current pace and way of doing things.


My most recent challenge comes after just getting a slight handle on the state reporting that is done by every school district in the state of Iowa.  Although I have never understood this bearcat of a system, it was something that I had come to grips with as a principal and now am starting to be able to comprehend at a minimum level as a superintendent.  To most of you that don't work with this system, it's OK that you don't know what it is or what it looks like, just understand that my learning curve has been steep, and I'm on those foothills of breakthrough that indicate I may have a chance.


Most recently, however, I have heard - and even seen to a degree - that the current format will be changing to adjust our approach into a more streamlined and simplified system.  Notice that I didn't say "easier" here as that is another oxymoron in the educational world - Project EASIER.  With the same intent, Project EASIER was created but has clearly not lived up to its name.  For this one, however, I do hold some level of expectation that it will improve what we do and how we do it.  The goal here is to combine several reports on which we enter the same information (now downloaded mostly, so it isn't even fair to say there are checks and balances being eliminated) into one.


Looking forward, I simply need to continue to remind myself that I need to adapt and that Change is Good.

Read more »