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| January, 2009 Dear friends, Welcome to my web site. I decided that given the fact all of our teachers will develop web sites over the next several months, I needed to get going, as well. I will be updating this space at least every month and look at it as an opportunity to visit with constituents about important work in the district and to answer questions that you might have. I will also be posting books I am reading, pictures I take around the district, and materials I am writing about the work we are doing here. To start with I thought I would give you a bit of biographical data about me. I grew up on a farm in Iowa, the oldest of five children. My childhood was a quiet one filled with farm work and school work. I attended a small school with only 16 in my graduating class. I always knew I wanted to be a teacher and saved my babysitting money to buy workbooks for my sisters and brother. When I was in fifth grade, I convinced my parents that my siblings needed summer school and that I would take charge of it. I even arranged for field trips to the pasture and to the local butcher shop. I thought it would be important for my students to learn a foreign language, and since I didn’t know any myself, I invented one to teach them that summer. I was a reader at an early age and some of my most vivid memories are of the Iowa traveling library. We received a big catalog of books that were available to order. Each month I would order thirty titles that would arrive at the farm in a big, heavy cardboard box. The thrill of unpacking them and carefully arranging them on the desk in the alcove in the order I would read them still stays with me. I received my undergraduate degree from the University of Northern Iowa—a great teacher preparation school that continues today to turn out high quality teachers. My Master’s degree was from Iowa State, and I received my Ph.D. from the University of Iowa. I was an English teacher during the early years of my career and then a curriculum coordinator, director of curriculum, college teacher, and assistant superintendent I came to work in St. Louis in 1990 as the assistant superintendent in the Clayton School District. Clayton was a great place to work and I will always be grateful for the wonderful learning experiences it provided. Leaving in 2000 was a difficult decision—I had so many friends and colleagues there that it felt like home. But I was ready for a new challenge. And so I came to MRH as the fourth superintendent in five years. Friends suggested that I shouldn’t unpack my books for awhile—and I admit the first three years were the hardest of my professional life. You may have heard of rolfing—a deep muscular massage that is very painful and designed to realign your body’s energies. Well, that is what we had to do to the MRH district. In future letters I will talk about those early years, but right now I want to note just one thing. Those early years convinced a neophyte superintendent of the importance of a thoughtful, dedicated, and courageous Board of Education. Together we all linked arms and said, “We are in this together to make a difference.” I am still in awe of the challenges we tackled and the power of collective intent to improve a district. While personnel on the Board of Education has changed over time, their courage and good will remain constant. It has been a joy to work for them. So here we have my first letter. I am looking forward to additional letters and I am eager to hear from you. Please send questions or items you would like me to address in upcoming letters to l.henke@mrhsd.k12.mo.us Sincerely, Linda Henke Superintendent
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© Maplewood Richmond Heights School District. All rights reserved. MRH School District 7539 Manchester Road Maplewood, MO 63143 |
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