A Visit to Dubuque Community Schools on Wednesday Afternoon

After lunch with UniServ Director Bob Brown, UniServ Secretary Lora Henkel, and Dubuque EA president Tammy Duehr, Tammy and I were off to visit schools and to meet leaders in the Dubuque Community School District.

Our first stop was Jones Early Childhood Center...Jones Hand and Hand Pre-School. The first person to greet us (waiting on the front steps of the building) was Principal Diane Muir. Diane (pictured on the right) gets a hug from long-time friend and colleague Tammy Duehr. Diane gave us a tour of the first floor of the early childhood center, stopping to introduce us to staff and give further details of their programs. Thanks for your leadership, Diane!

Dubuque EA Building Rep and teacher leader, Lynn Glaser (standing at left) led our tour through the lower level of the Hand and Hand Pre-School Center. It is a beautiful facility and such a stimulating place to be, I can see why everyone was so enthusiastic about the students they were working with and the activities they were providing!



Our next school visit took us to Hoover Elementary. We first met with principal Steve Geisert as he was preparing for "Open House". The school boundary lines had recently been redrawn and elementary buildings were holding an "Open House" to give new families a chance to check them out before the fall semester. Mr. Geisert (seated at left) then took us on a tour of the building and stopped to introduce us to staff along the way. Dubuque Community Schools are fortunate to have building leaders as Steve Geisert! I also had a chance to stop in and say hello to a good friend and association leader Peg Becker. Peg is a 4th grade teacher at Hoover.

Our last stop for the afternoon was to "The Forum", the Dubuque Community School District central administative office. The first person we stopped to visit was Joann Lueken, district Business Manager. Joann (seated at right) was honored as the ISEA TEAM Award winner in 2005. It was great fun to reconnect with this enthusiastic leader! Wow, how lucky Dubuque is to have this gem in Joann!

The last visit took us into the office of Superintendent of Schools John Burgart. President Tammy and Superintendent John have developed a great working relationship as the leaders of the association and the school district. We discussed some of the issues that we agreed on and acknowledged that there will be areas of disagreement, but that we will always keep the priority of students first. Thanks, John Burgart for your continued leadership!