Leadership Matters January 2014

is superintendent. “My dad was my hero,” she said. “He taught me that education was important, and for my family, like many others, education has been the great equalizer. Seeing grown men come up to him and call him ‘Coach,’ it was apparent to me that teaching and coaching was something special.” The Read 180 program allows students in need of

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 Offering more dual-credit classes than ever before thanks to a partnership with Rend Lake Community College.  Providing financial stability through innovative leadership that resulted in an agreement with a new coal mine that opened in the district to provide an in-kind donation in lieu of property

taxes that were going to be abated because the mine was in an enterprise zone. That agreement will net the district more than $4 million over the next 12 years, helping stave off potential teacher layoffs. Stewart credits those successes to things like having a great school board and a strong and dedicated staff and teaching corps. She also says that success for an educator often cannot be fully measured by data and statistics. “Little things you don’t

reading help to get 90 minutes a day of focused instruction to improve their basic reading skills. It has paid dividends, as has the district’s Reading Plus program. “It’s kind of like Zumba for your eyes and brain and it works for us; it makes kids better readers,” Stewart said. “Without basic-level reading skills you have no chance for success in life.” The reading program anecdotes paint a mosaic: a student who raised his ACT score by four or five points to become eligible to receive an NCAA scholarship (“The problem was not his intelligence, it was his reading speed,” Stewart said), an “emergent reader” who now can communicate through texting, and another who was able to proficiency out of a developmental reading class at nearby Rend Lake Community College. Stewart says leading a successful school district begins with a vision that faculty, staff and even students buy into and embrace. At Benton, it’s called Ranger Nation Show the PRIDE:

“Little things you don’t think matter really do,” she said, recalling walking across a gym floor after an event and hearing a girl calling her name. “This young woman was a former student and athlete when I was first starting out. I didn’t even think she liked me. She threw her arms around me, hugged me and said ‘You’ll never know how much you meant to me.’ I was honored and also scared because that’s a lot of responsibility when you think about how many kids you might have an effect on as a teacher, coach or administrator.”

think matter really do,” she said, recalling walking across a gym floor after an event and hearing a girl calling her name. “This young woman was a former student and athlete when I was first starting out. I didn’t even think she liked me. She threw her arms around me, hugged me and said ‘You’ll never know how much you meant to me.’ I was honored and also scared because that’s a lot of responsibility when you think about how many kids you might have an effect on as a teacher, coach or administrator.” The granddaughter of Russian immigrants, Stewart credits her father, who died two years ago, with having the most impact on her becoming an educator. Harry Stewart was able to go to college on a football scholarship and became a longtime teacher and coach in the same Benton district where she now

P roblem-solving

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R eady for college & careers

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I ndividual responsibility

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D evelopment of the whole student

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