|
|
|
Suzan Patton’s first teaching job was in the district she will lead after this school year. The USD 382 Board of Education approved her as superintendent beginning July 1, replacing Glen Davis, who has chosen to retire. A search for a new assistant superintendent, to fill the position Patton is leaving, will begin in the near future.
Board President Kim Stivers, Patton’s sister-in-law, abstained in the vote, to avoid any appearance of impropriety. Patton said their family ties have never created a problem and she does not anticipate any as she assumes the new role.
“We’ve been able to manage a very professional relationship,” she said.
In 1982, Patton was a new teacher in an English department of six in a Pratt High that was much larger than currently. She was one of the lucky ones, she said, to have an air-conditioned classroom on the second floor of the old building.
“The hallways were packed with kids. It was hot,” she recalled. “But it was a great staff to work with. I couldn’t have had a better place to start my career.”
In addition to teaching English, she was a cheerleader sponsor, which allowed her to get to know the students on a different level.
In 1995, she accepted a new challenge, teaching at Maize, one of the fastest growing school districts in the state. In 11 years, the high school student body grew from 700 to 2,000. A wealthy, progressive district that emphasized professionalism and technology, the experience had an influence on Patton’s view of education.
After she earned her administrative license, she was offered the job of assistant principal.
“I loved teaching so much, but I couldn’t overlook the opportunity for a new challenge,” she said. “I saw a thoroughly different side of education.”
Working with 500 students, from their freshman through junior year, she began to understand why some of them didn’t learn, didn’t even read their literature assignment.
“I became a lot more compassionate,” she noted.
In 2007, she was ready to return to Pratt. Although not technically a native, she moved here in eighth grade, graduated from Skyline School and married Mike Patton, who is a Pratt County native. A week or two after she interviewed for a position as principal, Davis called and offered the job as assistant superintendent.
Accepting a job that hadn’t been a part of her “life’s goals” required some thought.
Suzan Patton’s first teaching job was in the district she will lead after this school year. The USD 382 Board of Education approved her as superintendent beginning July 1, replacing Glen Davis, who has chosen to retire. A search for a new assistant superintendent, to fill the position Patton is leaving, will begin in the near future.
Board President Kim Stivers, Patton’s sister-in-law, abstained in the vote, to avoid any appearance of impropriety. Patton said their family ties have never created a problem and she does not anticipate any as she assumes the new role.
“We’ve been able to manage a very professional relationship,” she said.
In 1982, Patton was a new teacher in an English department of six in a Pratt High that was much larger than currently. She was one of the lucky ones, she said, to have an air-conditioned classroom on the second floor of the old building.
“The hallways were packed with kids. It was hot,” she recalled. “But it was a great staff to work with. I couldn’t have had a better place to start my career.”
In addition to teaching English, she was a cheerleader sponsor, which allowed her to get to know the students on a different level.
In 1995, she accepted a new challenge, teaching at Maize, one of the fastest growing school districts in the state. In 11 years, the high school student body grew from 700 to 2,000. A wealthy, progressive district that emphasized professionalism and technology, the experience had an influence on Patton’s view of education.
After she earned her administrative license, she was offered the job of assistant principal.
“I loved teaching so much, but I couldn’t overlook the opportunity for a new challenge,” she said. “I saw a thoroughly different side of education.”
Working with 500 students, from their freshman through junior year, she began to understand why some of them didn’t learn, didn’t even read their literature assignment.
“I became a lot more compassionate,” she noted.
In 2007, she was ready to return to Pratt. Although not technically a native, she moved here in eighth grade, graduated from Skyline School and married Mike Patton, who is a Pratt County native. A week or two after she interviewed for a position as principal, Davis called and offered the job as assistant superintendent.
Accepting a job that hadn’t been a part of her “life’s goals” required some thought.
“I had to think long and hard because I knew I would be losing contact with kids,” she explained.
Instead, her main focus has been working with teachers, developing and refining curriculum, managing assessments and collecting data, all of which she says she “dearly loves.”
She is looking forward to the next challenge.
“I feel very comfortable with what I know and am doing as assistant,” she said. “I am very fortunate to work with Dr. Davis. He served as an excellent leader for me to learn from and gave me the confidence I can step into the role of superintendent.”
Her most important goal as superintendent will be to continue the health and stability of the budget, she said, and to become familiar with the business side of running a school district.
Another goal will be to continue to focus on student academics. A district committee has been meeting since last year to identify directions for the district. Their findings come under three headings: rigor, relevance and relationships.
Better use of technology will be an emphasis, along with building relationships with students, which she described as a key to student success.
Within the next year, Kansas schools will shift from the federal No Child Left Behind standards to Common Core, which Patton said is more liberal, but no less rigorous, placing greater emphasis on critical thinking skills than rote learning. Even as teachers are preparing their students for assessments under the old program, they need to be looking toward implementing the new standards next year.
Patton earned a bachelor’s degree from Wichita State University, majoring in English, and a master’s degree in secondary education from Fort Hays State University. She took classes leading to administrative licensure at Baker University and Wichita State, and has been accepted into a doctoral program at WSU.
