SHARED SUCCESS: TURNER PROMOTES EDUCATIONAL PARTNERSHIPS

Cape Girardeau superintendent Arthur Turner for the past 16 years has strived to lead a strong public school system for students and the community.

Along the way, he has been quick to share credit for the successes.

"This is not my story. It never has been," Turner said. "It's a story about progress and success for the district."

He will leave the top school post officially at the end of June. During Turner's tenure, the school system has prospered. He also has helped foster close relationships with area businesses and Southeast Missouri State University.

Turner explained that his philosophy has been to get people involved in development and implementation of programs at the beginning, and then let them run with it.

"I like to see progress that lasts," Turner said. "For it to last, a program has to get built into the organization and people have to believe in it. My job is to set the scene to make it possible.

He said this philosophy of leadership guarantees that success will continue even when he no longer is with the district.

Turner said he sees two essential roles for schools.

"First and foremost, schools must provide a good, solid education for the kids," he said. "And second, schools should provide for community improvement."

"Our kids can go from here anywhere they want," he said. "If they apply themselves while they are here, we give them an education which will take them where they want to go.

He continued: "Nobody disagrees that this is the best school in the area. And it should be. We have the resources to lead the area and in many areas we have."

"I think he's outstanding," said James Hirsch, a former member of the Board of Education. "Because of his leadership quite a few things have been done. He is able to give credit to other people for things he really lead. But the superintendent deserves credit for being a leader, too."

Hirsch served on the board of education for 13 years.

Hirsch said: "We had a raise in teachers' salary every single year he was here, and that's due to good management.

"I don't know how many districts have been able to do that, but I would guess not very many over a 16-year period."

Advances have been made in girls athletics and special education, he said.

"I feel we would not have the swimming pool in cooperation with the city if had not been for his ability to work things out," said Hirsch.

Turner also helped advance a district-wide emphasis on reading, he said.

"Dr. Turner found a new reading program, called Reading Recovery, through his contacts at the University of Illinois, and we'll be the first district in the state to implement it," Hirsch said.

The program is designed to catch and correct reading problems in the first grade.

Another former board member, Tom Harte, said Turner enhanced the level of professionalism in the school district. Harte served nine years on the Board of Education.

"If you look back at where we were 16 years ago, you can see the progress we've made," he said.

Harte said Turner was involved in setting professional job targets and job descriptions for employees. "We also have professional evaluations of people with clear communication of expectations," he added.

Harte said communication is better today, as is decision-making for the district.

"Before we had one or two people making decisions. Now there is much more input and interaction," he said. "That's not to say everyone is happy with all the decisions, but there is much more dialogue than there used to be."

Business

Turner worked to make the school system a marketing tool for area economic development. "I think the school system is a real asset in attracting new business," Harte said,

Robert Hendrix, executive director of the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce, said "Art Turner has been a great asset to economic development in this community.

"He has been available and willing to help in any way that he can, be it through vocational school programs, job education, the business- education alliance, or the high school business symposium.

"He's always been interested in the entire community."

Turner said that through the vocational school, the district also offers "extras" which help attract new businesses.

"We have the customized training benefits for businesses that come in," he said. "That doesn't happen every place."

Hendrix agrees that the customized training program at the area vocational school has been a boon.

"It has been tremendous for the industries we have brought in. And in many cases it has been the thing that made the difference in the company deciding to come to Cape Girardeau," he said.

University

The school system and the university also have enjoyed a close relationship, Turner said. Southeast Missouri State University Provost Les Cochran said he agreed.

"I think that the fundamentally most significant example of the cooperation between the public schools and the university was the critical role Art Turner played in our teacher education redesign," Cochran said.

The university closed its lab school and moved teacher training into public school classrooms. Teacher trainees begin observing "real kids" at the freshman level.

"That takes an extraordinary level of cooperation and involvement by the public school," Cochran said.

Turner was co-chairman of the initial task force which recommended the changes in training teachers.

Cochran said: "He was involved through the whole process of outlining strategies and implementation of that plan.

"Without that kind of leadership outside the university, the whole program would not have worked."

Cochran believes Turner has a strong commitment to quality education.

"On the countless occasions he has worked with the university, he has been a strong advocate for public schools," Cochran said.

Being that advocate, Turner said, is part of the job. He doesn't spend much time these days with students, he said, and he misses that contact.

But he said as superintendent, his job it to keep the district moving in the right direction.

"There are four things you must do for a successful school system," Turner said. "Do a good job. Do a good job. Do a good job. Then tell about the good job you've done," he said.

"I'm proud of the things we've been able to do in Cape Girardeau," Turner said. "I feel we have a good school system.

"Most people don't see any of this as my programs," Turner said, but that was his aim. "These are their programs, and that's what makes them work.