Kim Swift

Months earlier, she experienced wrenching personal tragedy when her husband took his own life.

Working through good days and bad moments, Swift is a visible, hands-on presence at Senior.

Her promotion follows six years as principal at Central Alternative High School and 12 years as a guidance counselor. She joined Dubuque Community Schools 27 years ago as an English teacher at Central.

Here are the highlights of the TH's extended conversation with Swift:

TH: What was your first thought when you were notified that you got this job at Senior?
KS: I was very excited. It's a dream that I had had for a long time. Like most dreams, you don't expect that they're actually going to come true. Most dreams remain dreams. (Superintendent) John Burgart called me late one evening and told me that I was his selection. It was a sleepless night after that. I was very thrilled, very honored, very excited to begin it. I think I wanted to come to Senior High School the next day and start the job.

TH: What are the differences between an alternative high school, like Central, and a mainstream high school?
KS: There are lots of differences. Central's a very small learning community. And within those small learning communities, you're really able to get to know each student individually, what they need; you're able to try a variety of ways to meet those students' needs so the relationship that develops between students and teachers or students and administrators is a lot more personal. Sometimes a lot more powerful. When you get into a place like this (Senior), you wish you had those kinds of relationships with all of the students who are here and hopefully, there are adults within our building who do. From my perspective, I would love to know all 1,600 of the adolescents who go here, but it's not possible to know them to that degree. To know them and their families and their histories and their needs and help them plan their futures. So that's a little difficult for me. I really want to have that kind of relationship with the students.

TH: Are there some things you're doing to try to make that connection, to cross that bridge?
KS: I am a really, really hands-on kind of leader. A really hands-on kind of principal. I spend lots of time in areas where students are present, at student activities, trying to make contact with them; at least letting them know that I am accessible to them should they need me for some event or some problem they're having in their life or some form of guidance. In the beginning months, it's just been a case of just trying to be highly visible in classrooms, in hallways, at school activities. That's a big job, though, because there are a lot of them. I think my goal in the beginning is to make sure they know who I am, to make sure that they know I would be a very approachable person should they need to approach me. At Central, I taught classes. That could happen here someday. I love teaching. It's what I do best. So I can see a day coming when I will teach a class each semester to be able to have that relationship with kids again. But so far, it's just been a lot of orientation, meeting with small groups of students, trying incidentally to know their names.

TH: Is student safety a bigger concern now than it was the last time you were here, as a counselor, or even when you first got into teaching? Not necessarily exclusively to this building, but in the high-school setting in general.
KS: A lot of people would say yes. I don't feel like it's very different. I feel like we have 1,600 adolescents and that that has a lot of energy and potential for good and bad to happen. Yeah, I know we talk in our society about children being more needy and placing more demands on the school system. I guess that's probably true, but I personally don't have that sense when I walk around here, that things are more tense or that this is any less safe than it ever has been. Some days, I feel actually the opposite. I can remember being in this building in the late 1980s when there was a lot of tension, when there was a lot of feeling like things might explode. I have absolutely no sense of that today. Most every interaction is positive. The behavior problems we have tend to be problems where somebody's screwing around or, what the kids say, "messing" with somebody so they're doing annoying adolescent immature behaviors. We intervene and hopefully teach them to grow up more in our presence. But I don't feel unsafe or any less safe than I ever did during the short 27 years that I've been doing this.

TH: Related to the personal safety issue is the debate about the presence of drugs in our schools and the use of drug dogs. That was a major element in the last school board campaign. What's your opinion about the use of drug dogs in the school here?
KS: I think we should use them and I think all of the building principals came out saying that. Certainly, drug usage among adolescents is a big problem. I think we should use every tool that we have to try to intervene in that or to make it less acceptable. I don't think drug dogs are the answer by any means. Actually, I feel that kind of sad that two quality school board members (Cammie Dean and Steve Hodge) weren't re-elected maybe based on that one issue because I think that making decisions that impact kids education is a really big thing and shouldn't be decided based on one opinion on one issue. So I feel badly because I think a lot of Ms. Dean and Mr. Hodge. I'm sure the new board members will also be wonderful. I mean no bad reflection on them. But I do feel for those two people not to be reelected simply based on drug dogs presence in school is unfortunate because they were very good and very insightful board members.

TH: And that's how you assess the results of the election?
KS: I do believe that was the issue. It became an enormous issue far out of proportion to the amount of importance, as far as that being a tool to detour drug usage is one thing. I hope the board changes its policy and gives us the option of using it if we think that we need to use drug dogs. I don't expect that they'll be used a lot or often. I don't think it's actually an especially good deterrent to drug usage among adolescents. I think drug usage among adolescents is much more complicated than that. To pretend that bringing dogs in to search hallways would be the real answer is, I think, pretty simplistic.

TH: But it's still something that you would favor using?
KS: I would. I would favor lots of things. I think there are many things we need to look at when it comes to try and detour drug usage and alcohol usage among adolescence.

TH: In terms of the curriculum piece you mentioned, have you had much time to really impact what is going on in academics here?
KS: We have begun the process of thinking about what courses we are going to offer next year. Those have been some of the curricular decisions that we've had. We've had discussions about the possibility of some cross-curricular course offerings that might happen here. We've had some discussions about expanded AP (Advanced Placement) courses that might happen here next year. We've had discussions about what kinds of things could we do to better incorporate students with special needs into classrooms with more diverse student population. There are right now currently discussions going on about an English study and a science study. I've been involved in those to some degree. That's pretty exciting. The increase in graduation requirements really is going to impact students the next few years, and how schools are run, and how we use time and resources. I think in theory it seems very good to increase graduation requirements. The implications of that, though, are many. When you start talking about having every student in an institution this big having their graduation requirements increased to 46. What that means for their day and their time.

TH: What was your son David's reaction was to the news that the school that he is attending is now going to have his own mom as the principal? That can be a lot of pressure on a kid. KW: He handles pressure very well. David's way of handling most pressure is just let it roll off. He was consulted all the way along because I understand that this move would not just impact my life but his, in a big way. When I thought about applying, he was extremely supportive of that happening. Almost giddy. He couldn't quite believe his mom could become the principal at Senior High School. He said from the beginning, "I want you to do this, it's fine with me." He probably said, "Whatever, Mom," as adolescents do. He has a really good group of friends and that group of friends was also very supportive in the decision. We talked early on about the fact that I was going to make some decisions that wouldn't be popular among the students and that that would put some social pressure on him. He thought that that would be just fine.

TH: Has anything like that cropped up in the first couple of months?
KS: I can remember over the summer, one of the decisions I made early on was that all of the 12th graders at Senior High School were going to have at least five classes plus P.E. Previously, they had been allowed to have fewer than that. They had been allowed to just meet the basic credit requirement needed to graduate. I decided I didn't agree with that philosophy, and that if you were going to be in high school, you were going to go to school all day. It wasn't just about meeting minimal credit requirements, it was about getting the best education available to you. I had made that decision. We had called in all of the seniors to tell them that they needed to increase their course offerings. David had been out socializing with some friends the night that I had done that. He came home; I was sound asleep. He came into my room and he said, "What are you thinking? I can't believe you're doing this." I said, "Well, you need to believe it." So, he hasn't agreed with some of the decisions I've made, but that' s just most teenagers don't agree with their parents' decisions.

TH: You've got a good-sized community here and, of course, they have their own families and extended families. There are occasions when tragedy is going to intrude on people's lives. You had your own experience shortly before being selected for this job when your husband took his own life. Has your experience with personal tragedy affected how you are able to interact and relate with people who are going through their own personal challenges?
KS: I hope so. I hope it has made me stronger and more sensitive to the challenges that everyone faces. I think whenever anyone goes through a personal tragedy, as I did with the death of my husband, Steve, you hope something good can come out of the horror of that situation. And I think out of that, hopefully, I'm more sensitive to people's needs, more aware of the challenges that depression and mental health issues can play in people's lives. I would hope that it might make me more approachable to staff members and students who have having difficulties. I think following those kinds of events, people have some pretty big choices to make about how they live their precious lives that they have left. For me, it was a very deliberate decision that I was going to use Steve's death as a motivating force to try to use my life to hopefully support other people and support other people's children and maybe more importantly, to value every single day. They really are all gifts, all these days that we have to live. I think when you've been through really difficult times, hopefully it can give you some strength to say, "I can do really difficult things." The tragedy has helped me to redefine what I think is really difficult. Sometimes I think for a moment that some particular issue or relationship might be a big deal. Then upon further reflection, I just say, "You know, this is a small thing. It might be difficult, but just do your best, Kim. Get through it. You'll be fine." People around you will support you. I think it's helped me keep other things in better perspective. Following Steve's death, I had an enormous sense of what a great safety net I had out there. I have wonderful friends and wonderful family and the staff at Central School and the school administration, people here in Dubuque schools. I mean, I was so well loved and so well supported that it really gave me that sense that I wasn't in this alone. And then I would hope that other people going through tragedy would also have the sense and that I could maybe be part of that for other people, recognizing how important it was for me at that time.

TH: Have you had occasion to be involved in groups or organizations related to suicide prevention or grief-type of groups? Have you been part of that or been able to share with others to this point?
KS: I haven't, because that's not where my grief took me. It wasn't what I need. I know that those sorts of groups do wonderful things for lots of people. It wasn't what I did. My own healing happened primarily with my family, my friends, but I think for lots of people, it's a very good thing.

TH: With your counseling background, I guess you would probably advise others that there's not any one right answer or one correct approach to a response that way. It's not right or wrong to join this group or not join a group. It would depend a lot upon individual decisions.
KS: It seems like a clich when people say just take one day at a time or everyone grieves differently or do what you need, but it is just so true when you're actually going through it. I kind of go back and have said, "OK, I can get through today, I just have to deal with today." Some days, I just need to deal with this morning. Once you get through that morning, then you're able to deal with that afternoon. I think that that's absolutely the truth, that people need to grieve as they need. That doesn't mean that some people don't get stuck or need help from other people figuring out what might help them move forward. But for me, it was primarily having a very, very good group of friends who did just whatever I needed. They were there when I needed them; they left me alone when I needed to be left alone. They brought me soup and books. I teased them about babysitting me. Like, "Who's babysitting me this weekend?" But the truth of the matter was, I knew they were grieving also and needed to be with me as m uch as I needed to be with them.

TH: So, good days and bad days?
KS: Most all days are good days. They truly are. You know, that doesn't mean you don't miss the people who have died, but I have good days that have some bad minutes or hours in them. But most moments are very manageable. And sometimes, you just allow yourself to be sad for awhile. There's no shame in that.

TH: Thank you. Getting back to the school. I don't know how you have time for this, but you're researching the dome that used to be atop Senior High School. It apparently was taken down in the 1950s. The school was built in the 1920s. First, why are you so interested in getting a dome on the school? And secondly, where are you on that particular project?
KS: Part of the beauty of Senior High School is its history and the role it has played in this community. I'm just fascinated as I read the accounts of the building of Senior High, the role that Senior High was going to play in this community in the '20s and then obviously beyond. It's just such a fabulous building. It is so physically beautiful and so well maintained. I just am very interested in the history of the building itself as well as the activities that have gone on in the building. Looking at the early pictures from the '20s, we started recognizing that there was this dome on Senior High. I started asking questions. Why did it come down? Not a lot of people had a lot of information. We did find a picture in the 1958 yearbook of the dome coming down. I've heard rumors that the maintenance was more then the school thought that they could, that the upkeep was too large, but I don't really know. I'm just kind of interested. Not just in the dome, the whole building I'm interested in, but especially as we approach 150 years for Dubuque Community Schools and our honoring of the past and studying the past. I just sort of had this thought that maybe, not just researching, but perhaps reconstructing the dome and bring Senior High back to some of the earlier, as the earlier photos, might be an interesting project for me and other community members.

TH: What do you like to do in your spare time?
KS: I like to read. I read lots of things. Part of my routine each day is that I usually end each day with at least an hour or two of reading. That's a big part of my own personal growth. It gives me the ability to think about things maybe other than school-related things. I'm a runner. I usually run for an hour a day about 4:30 a.m. So, 4:30 to 5:30, if you're along Grandview, you might see me.

TH: On Oct. 9, you completed the Chicago Marathon. Do you see any parallels with life or career with the experience of getting ready for and actually completing a marathon?
KS: Well, I think it has a lot to do with goal-setting and deciding what it is that you think is important. And then devoting the time that it takes to those important tasks to get it done. So for me, running a marathon is a lot about fitness more than it is about running 26.2 miles. I'm pretty committed to staying as healthy as I can. Besides the fact that it just makes life easier in general, it certainly, I believe, makes me better able to do my job if I'm in better shape. I think that whole sense of yeah, what are your priorities, what are your commitments, what are you going to dedicate the precious few hours that you have in a day to I think add a lot of parallels to the rest of life. Other people might have other things. It might be their religion. It might be improving themselves in a particular content area. So I think that whole sense of setting priorities. For me it's a lot about getting rid of the excuses that if you say that something is really important to you, then you need to figure out h ow to make that happen rather than figure out all the reasons it can't happen. I think it also, to me, has a lot to do with living a life that's balanced. That as big as this job is, it should never be so big that it's the only thing in my life. So I think there's some symbolism there, too, that says Senior High School is important, it's enormous; however, it's not my whole life nor should anyone's job be their whole life. I'm sure there are some other things it symbolizes also, but... There are moments along the marathon, again, like it's Mile 21 and this is difficult. I truly, a lot of my self-talk goes back to saying, "But you can do difficult things." Just that sense that this is difficult, so what, do something difficult today. I think that that helps you in the last five challenging miles.

TH: You're brand new on the job, but think ahead to when you will step out of this role. Where do you want Senior High to be when you are finished with this particular job?
KS: I would like us to continue to focus on preparing kids for, at that time, let's assume it's about a decade from now, the world of 2015. It's hard to even imagine. Even to say those words sounds almost futuristic, but that time is coming very quickly and what the needs of kids and young adults is going to be in 2015 and how we change schools to better prepare kids for that world is a daunting task. And so I would like to leave this place knowing that kids, when they leave here, are well-prepared for that world of 2015. So part of what I think about is that future-looking sense. But at the same time, I'm also really aware that a lot of us spend our whole life preparing for what comes next instead of being where we are right now. Adolescence is much too important a time in people's lives to think of it as simply a time to prepare for adulthood, which prepares us for retirement or something. I don't know. It sometimes seems like we're always preparing for the next thing rather than to simply say adolesce nce is a really wonderful part of our life experience and we need to spend some time just being in it. Not being in it in the sense that we quickly want to move out of it. So, you know, I would hope again that we would have done lots of things to make sure that students experiences, while they're at Senior High School, are enriching and helping them to enjoy the experience, to make the experience as safe as we can for them. That they get lots of quality experiences here so that their journey into adulthood is more meaningful and more pleasant and a lot of fun. I think life should contain a whole lot of fun, too.