Leadership Matters - May 2013

Servant leadership: CIV superintendents serve meals at South Side Mission

From left, Michelle Lee, Sally Masear, Lindsey Hall, and Paula Davis help prepare meals at the South Side Mission in Peoria during the Central Illinois Valley Region’s Service day.

“We are all servant leaders in some way, shape or form,” Hall continued. “We are morally obligated to give back in some way, outside of the context of our jobs. The connections we make in our broader community, in the end, also make all of our schools better throughout our region. When we team together to give back, we collectively make the world a better place.” Dr. John Asplund, superintendent of Farmington Central Community Unit District 265, agreed that servant leadership is an important part of being a school and community leader. He also said teaming with his colleagues was a good time. “We were able to work collectively for a good cause, which is always enjoyable. But we also got to spend time getting to know each other better, laughing and telling stories,” Asplund said. “We are all members of the same community, geographically and professionally. Our yearly service projects help reinforce this concept and help remind us the most effective leadership is servant leadership. (Continued on page 18)

Superintendents from the IASA Central Illinois Valley (CIV) Region took a break from budget cuts, unfunded mandates and the other challenges facing public education to spend a recent Saturday (April 13) serving breakfast and lunch to residents of the South Side Mission shelter in Peoria as their annual Service Day project. About 20 mothers and children were served meals, and the 14 superintendents who participated said it was a rewarding experience that reinforced the reason they chose to become educators. “We are all strengthened when we come together to face challenges in our community, one of which is poverty, which impacts children who attend our schools throughout this area, state and nation,” said Dr. Lindsey Hall, superintendent of Morton Community Unit District 709. According to the most recent statewide report card, 49 percent of Illinois students are considered to be from low-income families. “When school leaders give of their time, even just a few hours, we form bonds and relationships that give me a renewed sense of why I do this in the first place.

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