After serving 22 years in Kansas as a Superintendent, the past 13 at Emporia, Dr. John Heim takes the seat in Topeka to lead the Kansas School Board Organization. John is a colorful guy, if you know him you can't wait to see him coming through the door. If you don't know him..... well, as Martina McBride would say, "everyone who sees him always wants to know him." He is just that colorful of a guy.
Known to be a practical joker in person and on the phone, a recent newspaper article said he was only serious "when he was talking about kids and education". Not a bad quality for a lifelong advocate of education. The son of Max Heim, another longtime Kansas educator, John says he knows the state well having lived in Gorham, Clifton, Colby, Lawrence, Manhattan, Emporia, Olathe, Hutchinson, (back to) Lawrence, Bazine, Hays, Bunker Hill, (back to) Manhattan, Brookville, (back to)Lawrence, Leoti, El Dorado, (back to) Hutchinson, (back to) Emporia, and soon he will reside in Johnson County. He is quick to add his life is like the Hank Snow song "I'VE BEEN EVERYWHERE."
He comes in to this job as a supporter for local school districts. The man who will lead them in the next few years will serve as a common voice for State Boards of Education in the state of Kansas.
School Board members are local volunteers who meet one or two nights a month and do so without being paid......Heim says "They do it because it's the right thing to do. Sometimes it's gratifying and sometimes it's painful, in the past two years it has been more painful," he noted.
I have to admit since I have gone off of my local school board I sleep much better on Monday nights. However, a couple of my co-workers are still out there facing the everyday problems that will help our Kansas students succeed during Monday night school board meetings.
According to Heim every school district needs the following-good teachers in the classroom, support staff to help show a positive voice to the community, Administrators, and School Board Members.
Why would anyone serve on their local board of education? Because they are serious about kids and education and oh yeah, because it's the right thing to do!
Thanks for your direction Dr. Heim. Kansas School Boards welcome you!
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