BOLLWERK PICKED TO HEAD DISTRICT

When Dr. Richard Bollwerk was designated Tuesday to become the Cape Girardeau public schools interim superintendent on Jan. 2, it was suggested he meet with the school's lawyer and work out his new contract.

Bollwerk said he preferred to continue working under his current contract and for the same salary. If the board had money to spend, Bollwerk said, it should hire a teacher's assistant for a math class at L.J. Schultz Middle School, where a teacher could really use the help.

That type of attitude elicits praise from teachers who have worked with Bollwerk in his capacity as the district's assistant superintendent.

Jo Peukert, past president of the Community Teachers Association, said Bollwerk brings credibility to the job of Cape Girardeau superintendent.

"He has a wonderful rapport and great deal of respect from the teachers he's worked with," Peukert said. "He is someone who will tie our district together."

Superintendent Neyland Clark will leave Jan. 2, when Bollwerk will become interim superintendent.

Bollwerk has worked in Cape Girardeau since 1986, first as Washington School principal, then as director of elementary education and most recently as assistant superintendent.

He describes his leadership style as low-profile. He thinks teachers and principals, not top-level administrators, should be in the spotlight.

"There is nothing we do at 61 N. Clark that is more important than the things that happen in the school buildings," Bollwerk said. "Our job here is to support the things that happen in the buildings and try to make their jobs easier."

Being a teacher today is harder than it has ever been, Bollwerk said. In Cape Girardeau, teachers have had an added level of tension as the school board and superintendent have endured turmoil over the past 1 1/2 years.

"We really haven't focused on our staff much in the past year and a half," he said.

Bollwerk has plenty of supporters in the school district.

Dr. R. Ferrell Ervin, a member of the Cape Girardeau Board of Education, said Bollwerk enjoys broad-based support among the staff. Ervin thinks the staff will respond well to Bollwerk's leadership style.

"You can't make the community happy if the organization isn't happy,' he said.

Board member Harry Rediger said Bollwerk was the logical choice for interim superintendent because he has been working in the board office.

"He will have his hands full trying to patch together the organization," Rediger said.

Charlene Peyton, president of the Cape Girardeau Community Teachers Organization, called Bollwerk "an encourager."

"He is the kind of person, if you have an expertise, he will encourage you to use it and then write you a note to say continue the good work," Peyton said. "He's always there. He shows up and he's willing to work. I don't know that he will always say yes, but he listens, listens quietly, and gives you explanations."

Peukert said Bollwerk knows what makes a school district work -- teachers and principals working with students day in and day out.

"If teachers serve on a committee, they get a thank you note for their extra time," she said. "He recognizes that we aren't getting paid and he appreciates our work."

Brenda Woemmel, president of the Cape Girardeau National Education Association, said Bollwerk has a proper sense of what is important to the quality of education in the district.

"He's a good communicator, a good listener and a good choice to serve as interim superintendent," she said.

Bollwerk has a doctorate in philosophy from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, and he earned a bachelor's degree in education and a master's degree in educational administration from the University of Missouri at St. Louis.

He joined the school district in 1986 as principal at Washington School. In 1988, he was named director of elementary education, and in 1994 he became assistant superintendent.

He spent eight years as an elementary school principal at the Warren County School District and four years as a teacher with the Rockwood School District.

He has participated in the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's Leadership Academy, from which he received the second highest score in the history of the superintendent assessment center.

Bollwerk and his wife Angie have three sons: Danny, 21, Bradley, 15, and Ryan, 13.