Jackson superintendent Link looks back on his career

Jackson School District superintendent John Link has worked for the past six years to build community within the school buildings and the district, and to reach out to the community to build trust and move forward as a partnership.

“My leadership style has always been that of a servant leader,” Link said. He has preferred to be guiding from behind, rather than trying to drag people along, he said.

“The school is here for the community, and the community is here for the school,” he said. “If we’re not working in tune together, the outcome won’t be quite as good as it could be for our children.”

Link — who will retire effective June 30 — said he’s probably most proud of two things: The relationship between the school district and the community of Jackson, including the city government, fire department, police department and so on; and the “Love all, serve all” mission.

“Our ‘Love all, serve all’ mission reaches outside the boundaries of the school building into the community,” Link said. “I’m excited to see how that all keeps going.”

Superintendent John Link poses for a portrait Tuesdasy at the Jackson School District office in Jackson.Sarah Yenesel

‘Make a change in the future’

Link has been in education for 32 years, he said, 25 years as an administrator, 19 as a superintendent, the past six at Jackson.

“Even your good days are hard days,” he said. “That’s OK, because I accept that challenge. I asked for it. But the thing is, I’ve learned along the way, if you hire good people and get out of their way, let them do their job, support them, guide them, then good things will happen.”

Link said his goal all along has been to hire not necessarily the best teacher, but the best person.

“We can help them become better teachers, but it’s hard sometimes to improve their character and integrity, and that’s what’s most important to put in front of your children,” he said.

Link said the district’s strategic plan has been a big achievement. When he first joined the district’s administration, he didn’t know the community or the district, and by listening and not being an active part of the strategic plan in his first year, “that really allowed me to really get a grasp of what our community wanted for our school.”

Link said the community feedback kept circling back to wanting students to be givers, not takers.

“When you look at the world around us, schools are a place where you make a change in the future,” Link said. “If we can get our students to be the giver, not the taker, to care about their neighbor and look out for each other, we can learn about the past and look toward the future, and school is where that has to start.”

Link said the “Love all, serve all” mission is personal for him. He grew up in a family in need, he said, and was himself an at-risk student. One of his biggest concerns is finding those families and giving them a hand up, walking beside them until they’re back on their feet.

And that’s not just talk. Link is also proud of the Heroes 4 Hope program, which engages students to help community members and students. The Power Pack program, which falls under that umbrella, sends backpacks of food home with students and, Link said, feeds nearly 300 families a week. The Ministerial Alliance, along with many other church and business groups, have been great partners, and donations from the community help that program deliver help to those who need it.

Retirement

Link is not definite on his plans after retirement just yet, he said, but he does plan to stay committed to that program.

“I want to make sure families who are struggling understand that, even though things might not be going good for them now, there will come a time things will get better,” he said.

“This is the craziest thing I have ever done,” he said of retirement. “I thought about retirement for a long time, I’ve had the years in, but I enjoyed what I’m doing and I still have a lot of fire to be around the kids and schools.”

But, he said, earlier this month, he woke up on a Tuesday morning and said “Today’s the day.”

“I just put it in God’s hands and we’ll see where it goes. That’s worked out for me so far,” he quipped.

On a more somber note, he said, “I want people to understand that life throws you a lot of curve balls, and growing up, I took a lot of strikes. I was probably the most at-risk kid I ever met, and to be able to get a chance to go to college, to get a chance to work in education, to work for some great leaders along the way, to help develop my philosophies and my goals — I just want people to think, ‘If he can do it, anybody can do it.’”

Link said he believes if people can stick to being an honest person, working hard for others, good things will happen.

“These six years have been by far the best of my life, working with these leaders, this board, in this community,” Link said. “It really has been a very great last chapter of my career — if it is the last chapter of my career.”

Jackson’s future

Link said this is a good time to transition to a new superintendent.

“We’ll finish our junior high school project, so that will be complete,” he said. Link oversaw a slew of renovations touching nearly every building in the district, including upgrades to safety and building functionality.

And, he said, the district of about 5,600 students is still growing, but the need for another building is not an immediate one. Fiscally, the district is doing well, despite state funding cuts earlier this year.

“As growth continues, we’ll be prepared for it,” Link said.

The search for the next Jackson School District superintendent is underway, conducted by EdGovLead Leadership Transition Services. Applicants may mail application materials and direct all questions to Jim Hinson, 2200 Opossum Hollow Road, Blue Springs, MO 64015; (816) 719-6003, jim.hinson@edgovlead.com.