Superintendent’s Corner — by Pete Kudlak, Superintendent, Van Buren Public Schools

Mrs. Otzman asked me if I was interested in doing a Superintendent’s Column on a regular basis. I am honored and humbled by this request. This column will be an every other week feature that shares what is happening in Van Buren Public Schools, the state of education in Michigan, and just my thoughts on teaching and learning.
I guess I should start with a little background on me so you know where and how my thoughts were formed. I grew up in Harbor Beach, MI. If you could see me now, I am pointing to the thumb on my hand. Harbor Beach is a very small community about 60 miles north of Port Huron. Hard work, honesty, and treating others with respect and compassion defined each of us. As the son of an alcoholic, I was picked up and put back together by many community members. It was a wonderful place to have your beliefs shaped and your passion for human capacity formed.
My calling for education did not come right away. After many chemistry credits, I decided to get a degree in psychology. I worked through college (and as a second job while teaching) at a group home for the mentally ill. This amazing population is misunderstood, feared, and ignored in our society. It is as easy to take our mental health for granted as it is to judge others in their times of struggle.
I guess all this background leads up to the word perspective. We all have developed our “lenses” through which we view life. Our backgrounds and experiences create our various lenses that we use. Without these lenses, we would struggle in the daily situations that life presents us. They are critical.
Unfortunately, we often lose sight that these lenses are not real. They are just what our experiences have created over time. Other people, with other experiences, have developed completely different lenses. This is a gift. It is fascinating to me to see how various people have totally different perspectives on the same situation. Too often, we see our perspective as “right” and others as “wrong.” This is so limiting and even harmful to reaching new heights or solving difficult problems.
Van Buren Public Schools is full of various lenses from people with very diverse backgrounds. Students here have the opportunity to develop their own perspective using the wide array of experiences of those around them. The possibilities are endless. I am excited to be a part of this and to continue to foster those interactions among the community.