By Carol Stiffler
Shawn Tebo wants to bring students back to the Tahquamenon Area Schools district, and she has a plan.
The new superintendent started her job on July 1 and has been introducing herself throughout the district. In an interview, the seasoned educator laid out her vision.
“We need to have a sense of pride, and change the culture of the school,” Tebo said. “We need to get discipline under control.”
Teachers are often bogged down with discipline issues and unable to teach – a problem that is not unique to TAS, she said. “It’s everywhere,” Tebo said. “It’s every school.”
Tebo said she has a plan to address discipline that she will soon take to the committee of the board, and can announce later.
Teachers have the hardest job in the school district, Tebo said – even harder than her own. “I’ve done it all,” she said. “I’ve been an athletic director… I’ve been in high school, middle school, the kitchen, I’ve been a para pro. Emotionally and physically, teachers have the hardest job. Kudos to them. I want to take stuff off their plate, starting with discipline issues.”
Tebo will enforce a closed campus and explains that it is for student safety. If a student heads across the street for a snack during the school day and gets hurt on the road, she said she would never forgive herself.
She’s also going to look into vape sensors as a potential addition to the building, and is working with camera experts to add audio recording to security cameras – audio is just as important as the visual recording, she said.
“We’re going to have to invest in some of these things to make our school better,” Tebo said.
Tebo admits she has an old-fashioned flair for being strict, but she says she also knows how to have fun with students. She jokes that she is the “new sheriff in town”.
“Students relate to me,” she said. “I can get on their level, but they know when I mean business, too.”
Tebo, who says she has “never left school,” calls herself “a big kid”.
“I love students,” Tebo said. “I love educating students. I love treating students fairly. But I also have a side of me that thinks that structure and order in a school day is very important to a majority of students. And that’s what we’re going to strive to do so those students can learn and teachers can teach.”
She’s impressed with the district, which she’s learning as an outsider looking in. The shop room is great, she said. Elementary students are going above and beyond with efforts in summer school. “We have awesome things in place,” Tebo said.
Her message to families who have taken their students out of the district is to give TAS another try. She has an open door policy and welcomes guests. For classroom issues, she requests parents use the chain of command – first speak to the teacher; if more intervention is needed, speak to the principal. Finally, if the matter isn’t settled, she welcomes the discussion in her office.
“I’d love to see those people back in the district. I’d love to see them back in the district,” she repeated. “This is their home.”
Tebo’s husband, Curt, will stay in their downstate home for now. They have a grown son named Trevor and a chocolate lab named Riley. Curt and Shawn have visited the Hulbert Lake area for years and have been snowmobiling on local trails.
“He wants to get up here,” Tebo said. “He was just as excited as I am.”
