LM summer 2023

Directors for FY 2024

Welcome Message from Dr. Roger Alvey, President Dr. Roger Alvey President, IASA Board of Directors

That is what helps form a common bond among superintendents in an extremely diverse state. Seven board members didn’t wake up one day and decide to make you superintendent—you had to earn it. Without question, there were people along the way who helped you reach this point. Or, as Todd Fox, a retired superintendent from Southeastern School District, recently put it, “If you see a turtle on a fence post, you know it had help getting there.” I am forever grateful for my parents and the core values they instilled in me early on. Whenever a personnel issue or community complaint arises, I sometimes reflect on the hardships my father experienced while he pursued his dream and the sacrifices he made for me. Maintaining perspective matters in leadership. However, sometimes I need outside help. The IASA has always been there for me. The organization has allowed me to grow and develop, and it has provided me with the support that I have needed in the best of times and in the worst of times. Dr. Clark, and the entire IASA staff, work constantly to address our needs both personally and professionally, so that we can all lead our schools and communities in the best interest of children. To close, I look forward to serving as President of the IASA and getting to know all of you. I relish the opportunity to develop relationships with new and different superintendents from across the state, and I welcome the opportunity to assist you in any way I can in this new leadership role. Have a great rest of the summer, and I will see you at the annual conference in September!

Growing up the youngest of seven boys in a small town, with a stay at home mom and a father who was an educator, I quickly discovered the importance of relationships, hard work, the value of a dollar and the benefits of serving your community. Throughout my 31-year career in education—including the past 11 as superintendent of Illini Bluffs District #327—I have never forgotten those values my mother and father instilled in me early on. My father, a “hillbilly” from Kentucky, ate “anything green” from his backyard in order to survive as a child. He raised five of his siblings after his mother died in a house fire when he was 15. In college, on his way to becoming a science teacher, he survived by eating 3-cent bologna sandwiches for nearly every meal. Because he didn’t have enough money to travel and interview for his first teaching job, the principal had to meet him in a cafe in Indiana, halfway between Illinois and Kentucky to conduct the interview. He started his career by getting off a bus in the small town of Glasford, IL, in 1953, carrying everything he owned in two suitcases, and renting a room from an elderly woman. He ultimately served for 35 years as a high school principal in the district in which I am now superintendent, Illini Bluffs District #327. As I have traveled from north to south and east to west across the state, I have heard similar stories from superintendents. While these stories may be unique and different, superintendents are alike in the struggles, trials and tribulations each of us have faced.

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9 LM Summer 2023