North Scott High School - Silver Shield Yearbook (Eldridge, IA)

Page 18 text:

X,L! e starts this day, as he starts most days, by jogging in the high school gym. After about three miles he goes home, cleans up, and makes it back to the administra- tion office by 7300 so he can read the morning papers or page through some professional education magazines, lt is the Tuesday after a school board meeting, so he has to take care of all the business the board has di- rected at him the night before, Today, this includes writing letters to Mr. Dan Anderson and Kevin Halstead, con- gratulating them on their performances at the Augustana Jazz Band Festival the weekend before. By the time he has finished writing six letters, classes have still not begun at the high school across the street. His agenda for today includes pre- paring a speech about school budgets that he will present to the League of Women Voters, developing a budget workshop for the school board, meet- ing with a teacher about contract talks, and listening to a bus drivers com- plaints, He is to spend most of the morning on this particular day touring Neil Armstrong and Virgil Grissom ele- mentaries and will stop to walk through the junior high. He's received a phone call from the high school, requesting his presence at an aud for the jazz band, so Marlene, would you call Melva Lewis at the lu- nior high to change our appoint- ment7 . Never mind, he'll stop there when he tours the school. Bear Stevens has only been su- perintendent for one year, and his pre- decessor had held the office for sixteen years, but Stevens has made that posi- tion his in every sense of the word. He carries out the ceremonies, makes the decisions. and initiates the meetings that any superintendent would carry out, but he does it with his own distinc- tive flair. He is a master of non-verbal com- munication, a subject that he has worked extensively with. He carefully uses his size, his iron hand shake, and his down-to-earth seriousness to com- mand respect. He uses his sense of humor, at the appropriate times, and his concern for people almost as a bal- ance: to compensate for his overzea- lous nature. lt is clear that he is not interested in nonsense on his time. He does monot- onous, ordinary things, that get in his way tlike opening drawers in a fast, almost furious manner, He does not like to be kept waiting. If he does ordinary things in a hurry, though, it allows him time to express his interest in people. While touring the TN AL Y ,Q V 'JUCTlON Talking on the phone takes up much of the Bears time every day.

Page 17 text:

ga ,M V., IN. Replacing the trailers at the far lei! oi the picture, the new special ed. wing houses the six programs in the curriculum. Two cranes are required to life the five ton beams to the too of the sixty-live foot fly-way. Behind the yard of beams! the auditorium rises above the profile of the building. NS SKYLEHE

Page 19 text:

sf gg, i Ai Ts? 2 Y ii? fi s - f, .5 2 ' - .. K -. -5,3 'MS- 5 .L While touring Virgil Grissom elementary, Stevens receives an explanation of the schools heating problems from the janitor. 5' New F Stevens tries to meet with all other members of the administration office at least once a day, to keep abreast of every area's problems. Fred Jansen, North Scott's Director of Operations, is usually the first on the list. Parkview school, he is genuinely inter- ested in surgery that the janitor has had. He knows the power of a compli- ment, and uses the term 'Amy friend freely. He mentions, very mater-of-a- factly, that lt's amazing how much you can learn from people if you just keep an open mind. He is interrupted, as he often is, by the phone. Line three for you, Dr. Ste- vens. lt is a supplier that would like to know if Robert Stevens would be interested in ordering from his com- pany and thus receive a free calcula- tor. Bear painstakingly begins his ex- planation that he cannot accept gratu- ities, but if the man would like to send him a catalog of . . . Silence. He hung up on me, Bear grins, as he reaches over to hang up the phone. l get those calls about three times a week. They offer jackets, gym bags, sweatshirts for my family. l knew the guy was a turkey when he called me Robert Stevens ', he concludes, and the subject is ended, when he wants it ended. Stevens is a prodigious organizer. Every day has a schedule and every meeting or deadline is written in a note- book that is a helpful companion. He has files for past speeches, informative clippings, and other notices. lf he can, he finishes one project before he starts another. He admits he is organized, but he says he likes to think his organi- zation is people oriented . 'tBear realizes that some people may be skeptical about his work, his methods, and his enthusiasm, but he accepts that as part of the problems of his job. The higher up you go, the more decisions you make in a vacu- um, he adds. He is not working solely to please the public, but he states, rather emphatically, that he is working for the students. He admits that some people may be taken aback by a man who calls himself Bear , but he is happy with the response he has re- ceived from the people he has met. l'm very comfortable, he says, and l like where l'm at. l'm very happy with the position. Bear does not know how long he will continue to work as superintendent, but he points out that when he is no longer working to maximum effective- ness, he will get out of the positin im- mediately. Until then, however, Bear Stevens will continue completing the duties of the position in his own distinc- tive manner. He will still care about the people, still shake hands with near- painful grip, and still run first thing in the morning. ln essence, he will still be superintendent, and he will still be the Bear. BEAR COLl.hlTFTi Rfwx tQ,..f