"The Founding Fathers of Maple River"
While engineers and architects oversee the final stages of Maple River’s new K-12 school complex, wrecking balls and cranes complete the demolition of the former Minnesota Lake school. As Seneca the Younger once reflected, every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end. While Maple River endures this season of change, it also recently witnessed the passing of three superintendents who not only helped steer the ship but also helped create Independent School District #2135, now known as Maple River. With the August passing of Donald Berkland, and the January passings of Richard Kuball and Jack Stouten, three of Maple River’s superintendents are also gone yet leave behind a legacy that went beyond bricks and mortar and instead helped create the DNA of a school.
The duties of a superintendent are as varied as the personalities of these three men. Budgets, finances, payroll–these fundamental responsibilities could shackle a superintendent to a calculator for days on end. For any superintendent brave enough to step out of the office, another set of duties must be faced: students and staff. From disciplinary issues to requests for project funds, a quick stroll around the building can result in a dozen requests. After a long day at work, attending an activity or eating out means tending to another duty–the needs of the community. Over the past four decades, the Maple River community has transformed from four rival districts to four buildings to a single building, and superintendents had the duty of making it all happen.
The Guy Next Door
Richard Kuball became the Superintendent of Mapleton Schools in 1969, but for Lee Solie and Jeff Annis, he was the guy next door. With a house next door to the school, Richard Kuball was on the job 24-7-365 even unlocking the doors to the gym so little Jeff Annis could practice his jump shot with the Kuball kids. Years later, when Jeff Annis led Mapleton to its first state basketball appearance in 1979, the team lifted Mr. Kuball on its shoulders in celebration. Both Annis and Solie were hired by Kuball. For Solie, it came via a landline kitchen phone, and for Annis, it came directly from Kuball at Annis’s wedding reception line. Jim Swanson, also hired by Kuball in 1976, not only noted Kuball’s vested interest in his staff but also his sense of humor. The former football coach explained, “Dick was more of a people person who could get the best out of you by talking and encouraging you. He would be there in times of need. He had an old saying he’d say to me in the hall on game days: “Don’t worry, Coach Swanson, we’re with you Win or Tie.” Thirteen years after student-athlete Jeff Annis brought the school its “first” state appearance, Coach Jeff Annis gave Mr. Kuball a retirement sendoff with a 1992 Softball championship, yet between those two memorable seasons, the community had seen a dramatic change–consolidation.
“I don’t know if there’d be a Maple River without Dick Kuball,” Solie explained. Now in her fourth decade at Maple River, Solie credits a protective nature held by Kubal for his staff. With the decision for calling off school because of weather falling to the superintendent, Solie noted the diligence Kuball gave these decisions, which included doing test drives for himself to gauge the road conditions. Solie also noted how Kuball would make sure the entire building was empty (staff included) before leaving on snow days..
Yet Kuball, the gifted “numbers guy,” knew tough financial times loomed for the district and the employees he’d hand picked from his backyard. Beginning in 1984, Kuball began “pairing and sharing” with Amboy-Good Thunder to help relieve the financial burdens. When those measures weren’t enough, he brokered an agreement to create Mapleton-Amboy-Good Thunder. Yet the numbers still didn’t work, and Kuball was forced to seek another financial partner.
Mr. Sunshine
Superintendent Donald Berkland turned out to be that financial partner needed by Richard Kuball. Born and raised in Delavan and educated at nearby MSU, Berkland knew the Maple River community long before it existed, and when the tough times also arrived at Minnesota Lake, he had to broker another consolidation with a local school. Renee Sonnek had firsthand knowledge of the years leading up to the consolidation efforts. Sonnek had a career where she served eleven different superintendents, including two terms with Willis Schoeb and Donald Berkland. “He was awesome,” Sonnek gushed about Berkland and frequently referred to him affectionately as “Donnie B.” In the same way Mapleton HIgh School staff members gushed about Kuball, Sonnek praised Berkland’s caring and thoughtful manner. After a long week of helping him crunch numbers in the business office, Berkland would encourage Sonnek to leave a little early on Fridays as a reward.
Despite his optimism and positivity, Berkland also knew his school was in dire straits. Sonnek recalled how Berkland courted several other school districts about consolidation including Wells. Ultimately, Berkland’s hometown of Delavan left its partnership with Minnesota Lake to consolidate with Blue Earth Area. Berkland, however, steered Minnesota Lake towards a partnership with Richard Kuball and MAGT. Annis recalls this partnership between Kuball and Berkland as “good cop, bad cop” with Kuball working the finances and Berkland serving as the PR guy. The two men had a daunting task. With Mapleton’s recent merger with Amboy-Good Thunder, Sonnek recalls how three school boards of 21 people would have to meet to hammer out the financial, legal, and staffing details for the consolidation. In fact, Sonnek was one of three business secretaries (Geniel Kopishke of Mapleton and Diana Schwartz of AGT) that had to share information. For Swanson, who witnessed the gleaning of three staffs to create the Maple River staff, he saw the pains the two men took. “I thought they made a good team. They were both so positive and wanted the best from the school district.” Leading by example was a trait shared by both men, and for Berkland, it meant stepping aside despite his 15 years of experience of superintendency with Delavan and Minnesota Lake. Knowing Kuball was nearing retirement, Berkland left for another school so that Kuball could finish out his career. When Kuball retired in 1992, Berkland returned to a district he’d helped create.
For veterans Solie and Swanson, Berkland’s character became obvious as they transitioned from the guy next door to Mr. Sunshine. Now working with Berkland, Swanson noted, “he was very enthusiastic,” and an “excellent and good man.” Serving as the “sidewalk sheriff” each morning during the loading of buses, Swanson noted how Berkland stepped into each waiting bus to get to know his drivers before they left for the other district buildings. For Mrs Solie, low on the seniority totem pole, she noted how the elementary staff referred to Mr. Berkland as “Mr. Sunshine” because of his ability to “improve your day” or to make a teacher feel valued. “When you talked to either one of them, you felt better.”
The Wizard of Finance
1995 saw more dramatic change at Maple River with the departure of Mr. Berkland and its high school principal. After years of balancing three communities and staff, Maple River went out of the district to hire replacements. As Jeff Annis described Maple River, “The best thing about Maple River…it came from three school districts. The worst thing about Maple River…it came from three school districts.”
Dr. Jack Stouten had big shoes to fill. Like Superintendent Kuball, he was a decorated educator, guiding Wadena-Deer Creek to the National School of Excellence Award in 1987-88. As Sonnek earnestly admitted, it was “hard to know how to take him” at first, which included the title of “Doctor” because of his degree. Swanson also remembers the transition. Stouten was “positive in a different sort of way” and also came with a different type of personality, which involved colorful ties and a background as a practicing magician.
For Warren Stowell, who joined Maple River as principal, he noted the unique leadership of Dr. Stouten. Having seen superintendents with short tempers, Stowell characterized his new boss as “mild mannered” man who would “never lose his temper.” One of the toughest challenges for Dr. Stouten came with the geography of the district, with schools at Amboy, Good Thunder, and Minnesota Lake. For Mrs. Solie, who worked at both the Minnesota Lake and Good Thunder building during this time period, her interactions were limited since the business office was located in Mapleton. Because of this geographical issue, Warren Stowell noted how Dr. Stowell made conscious efforts to create leadership groups and committees within his staff and avoided “micromanaging” his spread-out employees.
While Maple River athletics were off to the races in the early nineties, Dr. Stouten had a background in the fine arts, and consequently, several programs grew or were developed during this time period as he wove his personality into the fabric of Maple River’s DNA.
Yet Dr. Stouten also faced a financial and logistical crisis during his time period. As Swanson teased, they often referred to Dr. Stouten as a “Magician with where the money went.” With the veteran school board holding a firm line on expenses, Stouten had to find a solution to the fact that the Mapleton building could not fit all the students attending the growing district. To deal with the population boom, modular classrooms (mobile homes) were set up in the parking lot. This temporary solution allowed Stouten time to request a building referendum. For both Stowell and Stouten, this task was something new to both “academic” educators. It also revealed character. When Stowell would make a mistake presenting details to one group or another, Stouten took responsibility and the blame. As a rookie principal, Stowell referred the disgruntled to go over his head to Dr. Stouten, especially if Stowell worried he’d ruled wrongly on an issue. Dr. Stouten’s objective nature ruled fairly, and this trait, amongst others, led the two men to a friendship that went far beyond their time at Maple River.
Like Berkland and Kuball, Stouten found a way through the challenges, giving Maple River a critical expansion that gave the district another 20 years before another superintendent led another key referendum.
After leaving Maple River in the early 2000s, Dr. Stouten stayed in education by teaching college. Ironically, both men were witness to their eventual replacement–current Superintendent Dan Anderson. Anderson explained, “I did know Jack probably the best. I defended my final research project for my portfolio, and he sat on the committee.” Shortly after retiring, Warren Stowell stopped then Superintendent Wayne Gilman, who was out on a jog. Knowing the principal position was open, Stowell suggested to Gilman a candidate in the tradition of Kuball–a local guy with roots to the area–Dan Anderson. Gilman liked the idea, of course, since he’d already hired Anderson for the job.
Filling the Shoes
Like the men who came before him, Dan Anderson eventually faced his own challenges as superintendent in the new building referendum. He even worked with Renee Sonnek in the business office as her eleventh and final superintendent. Having seen so many different leaders during the years, Sonnek felt the successful qualities of a superintendent were to be “supportive of the staff” and to “be out there with the kids.” Retired educator Jeff Annis, who saw the role of superintendent through the lenses of neighbor, student, teacher, coach, and activity director, added “they’re getting hit from everybody” with these parents, teachers, students, coaches, administrators, and taxpayers “all thinking they’re important.” Annis felt being a people-person and “out in the trenches” mattered to be a successful superintendent. As Coach Swanson explained earlier, sometimes it’s just the small gestures that make students, teachers, and sidewalk sheriffs feel important, and he added the importance of being a good listener. For Lee Solie, superintendents need to be approachable, visible within the school, and visible in the community.
Gone are the days of Maple River superintendents driving from one end of the district to the other, and current Superintendent Dan Anderson reflects on his predecessors, “The challenge of putting it all together and making it go must’ve been very difficult. To think of the 80s and 90s and what it was like for southern MN and small towns. It was tough times. Being able to be on the other end of it and seeing something successful must’ve been pretty rewarding.” Anderson echoes the philosophy of being an approachable figure within the building. “Everybody does this in their own way.” Just as Kuball debated the safety of the weather, Berkland roamed the community shaking hands, and Stouten crunched numbers to keep the district healthy, Anderson finds himself in these same daily and seasonal patterns. “I always joke that you’re responsible for everything but in charge of nothing.”
Having been both teacher and principal for other superintendents, Anderson confessed that being a superintendent was lonelier than he expected. No longer “putting out fires” as a principal, he tends to the long-term planning of the district while also helping the elementary students find their way to becoming young adults. “It’s a unique business,” Anderson admitted, discussing how his yearly cycle varies from the quiet summer hours of planning, the frantic fall filled with school spirit, the long days and short hours of winter, and then the abrupt ending in the spring.
For Maple River, the coming spring will bring grass to the new baseball and softball facilities as the school blossoms into a new era. This past fall and winter have been seasons of closure for the superintendents who first birthed and then shaped Maple River into what it is today. “They created Maple River,” Anderson said in reference to Richard Kuball, Don Berkland, and Jack Stouten. “I think they’d be proud of what it is today.”
(Originally Published with the Maple River Messenger)
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