{"id":3918,"date":"2011-08-18T09:00:43","date_gmt":"2011-08-18T14:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lincolndemocrat.com\/?p=3918"},"modified":"2011-08-18T09:03:15","modified_gmt":"2011-08-18T14:03:15","slug":"the-tears-are-welling-up-in-my-eyes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lincolndemocrat.com\/?p=3918","title":{"rendered":"The tears are welling up in my eyes"},"content":{"rendered":"<blockquote><p><strong>New Centennial school chief: &#8216;Let&#8217;s get back to key processes&#8217; <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/presspubs.com\/articles\/2011\/08\/09\/quad_community_press\/news\/doc4e4179462fe62188241158.txt#blogcomments\">&#8216;We&#8217;re not just keeping the doors open&#8217;<\/a> By Nicholas Backus<br \/>\nStaff Writer Published: Tuesday, August 9, 2011 1:18 PM CDT <\/p>\n<p>CIRCLE PINES \u00c2\u2014 New Centennial District Superintendent Keith Dixon honored his parents by earning a bachelor&#8217;s degree in civil engineering. <\/p>\n<p>Then he went off and signed a contract to be a middle school teacher. <\/p>\n<p>\u00c2\u201cI told my mom and she smiled,\u00c2\u201d Dixon said. \u00c2\u201cShe said &#8216;I always knew you would be a teacher,&#8217; even though I knew she wanted me to be an engineer.\u00c2\u201d <\/p>\n<p>At the age of 13, Dixon lost his father in a tragic power line accident. When he got to college, Dixon took all education courses for electives because he wanted to impact students in the same way a particular social studies teacher affected him as a high school freshman. <\/p>\n<p>\u00c2\u201cAfter I lost my dad, this teacher took a special interest in me,\u00c2\u201d he said. \u00c2\u201cHe coached me, counseled me and turned me into a leader. He became a father figure for me. What emerged is what I know about teachers and how they can show us what we can grow up to be.\u00c2\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Originally of Grand Junction, Colo., Dixon has spent the last 17 years in Minnesota in various superintendent capacities. He served Faribault school district for a number of years before moving to Duluth in 2005. The 64-year-old retired in January but saw a one-year interim position at Centennial as a nice opportunity to support his wife Sarah, who is president and CEO of St. Paul-based Minnesota Alliance With Youth. So far, Dixon has no intent on negotiating a permanent job with the district. <\/p>\n<p>His rise in the educational ranks began as a math teacher, after which he earned a master&#8217;s degree in guidance and counseling. He worked as a high-school counselor in Fort Collins, Colo., before getting a doctorate in education administration and taking principal positions. His first superintendent job was as an area superintendent in Fort Collins. <\/p>\n<p>Dixon&#8217;s Duluth district came under some scrutiny in 2007, when a faction of district voters wanted to block $293 million in new building construction plans, dubbed \u00c2\u201cThe Red Plan.\u00c2\u201d Under state statute, the district was not required to do the project with input from a public referendum. <\/p>\n<p>A group calling itself \u00c2\u2018Let Duluth Vote\u00c2\u2019 disagreed, and tried to slow the process by introducing petitions in attempts to delay the Red Plan until a new school board was voted in. Despite the group&#8217;s protests, the Red Plan went forward and four new schools were built. <\/p>\n<p>At Centennial, Dixon said he wants to get back to \u00c2\u201ckey processes\u00c2\u201d and communicating with staff and the community. Dixon noted Centennial has a reputation as a \u00c2\u201cquality and well-run\u00c2\u201d district. <\/p>\n<p>\u00c2\u201cThe community is investing in me and I want to return that,\u00c2\u201d he said. \u00c2\u201cI want it to be a meaningful year. We&#8217;re not just trying to keep the doors open.\u00c2\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Dixon will make $159,800, which is less than former superintendent Paul Stremick. <\/p>\n<p>When asked about what drives him in the superintendent role, Dixon said it&#8217;s all about helping others realize their passions on a larger scale. <\/p>\n<p>\u00c2\u201cI&#8217;m not just helping students, but helping adults grow and develop (in hopes that) they will turn around and impact students,\u00c2\u201d he said. \u00c2\u201cI&#8217;m still a teacher, just at a different level.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Dr. Dixon also had <a href=\"http:\/\/lincolndemocrat.com\/?p=2053\">a black roommate<\/a> in college.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>New Centennial school chief: &#8216;Let&#8217;s get back to key processes&#8217; &#8216;We&#8217;re not just keeping the doors open&#8217; By Nicholas Backus Staff Writer Published: Tuesday,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[80],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lincolndemocrat.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3918"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lincolndemocrat.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lincolndemocrat.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lincolndemocrat.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lincolndemocrat.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3918"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lincolndemocrat.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3918\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lincolndemocrat.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3918"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lincolndemocrat.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3918"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lincolndemocrat.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3918"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}