The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
“People ask me what’s harder: flying in combat or being in education? I will always say being in education is hardest”
by Kendra Walker
Bill Summers is the new superintendent for the Gunnison Watershed School District, stepping into the role this summer ahead of the new school year. Summers moved to the Gunnison Valley from Cañon City where he was the principal of his alma mater, Cañon City High School. He was an English language arts teacher, speech/debate coach and volleyball coach during his time with the Cañon City School District. Summers is also a retired United States Air Force colonel and served as an Air Force pilot for 23 years.
The Crested Butte News recently sat down with Summers to learn more about what he hopes to help accomplish for students, teachers and the Gunnison Valley community.
What are some goals you have as superintendent?
I want to be in the schools as much as I can and be accessible to students and staff members, making sure things across the district are going well. My goal is that my office will not be in one place, it will be in all of the schools.
I plan to learn and listen. I’m new to this community and the way this community likes to educate its children. I have to be responsive to that. I’ll listen to building leaders and staff members who work closely with children. I’ll listen to parents and what they want for their children. I will work with the board of education as the leadership entity in the district. Most importantly, I’ll gather that information and make decisions to move this district forward on behalf of its children. You have to take risks to move everyone forward in the same direction.
What are some of your big areas of focus?
I’m a firm believer in the idea that education needs to evolve, as society does, on behalf of children. The one-size-fits-all approach is very different than what children need today and what we’re experiencing and what we need as a country. I want to make sure we’re also teaching them durable skills, like self-advocacy, self-awareness, healthy relationships, leadership. I want to make sure they have all the elements to be successful.
As a school, we are responsible for academic achievement but I also want students to gain experience. Engaging students on an individualized curriculum for them based on their interests and a connection to what they want to do when they leave. So when they graduate from our pre-K through 12 journey they don’t just know how to perform a math equation or write a great paragraph, but we would also like them to reflect on who they are and what they want to do. I think there’s value in career-connected learning, that idea of who I am and what do I want to do. While they progress through school they can see its relevance, and can be able to say, how well did I do, how could I have done better and why do it at all?
I’m a huge fan of learning and of higher education, I’ve been through four master’s programs myself. But I’m not a believer in the idea that you can’t be successful unless you go to college and earn your degree. I’ve watched plenty of people, including my own children, find different paths. There are students that play well with school, and there’s another population of students that don’t do as well or don’t want to. I’m a very big advocate of helping all students, let’s raise all ships in the harbor and make sure everybody has a prosperous future.
What are some things that you feel the school district is doing really well?
The district has a tremendous focus on student well-being. I wouldn’t have come to this community if I felt there wasn’t a lot of caring surrounding the students’ well-being. My predecessor Dr. Leslie Nichols did a tremendous job of making sure that was a priority. Staff also does a great job preparing kids for their futures, especially with the high school level.
Where do you see opportunities for improvement?
What I’d really like to make sure is that all students are successful, no matter what their future path looks like. I want us to ask ourselves how we can transition a student to learn and become successful, but also be a good person in society. And those durable skills they need can be started in elementary so they’re that much closer to success by the time they get to high school.
One of the things I’d like to start increasing here is opportunities for students to look at industry-recognized credentials (IRCs), internships and early college credits. I want us to blur those lines between K-12 education and higher education, tech trade schools or careers. We have a terrific partner with Western Colorado University, but we are far from taking full advantage of it on behalf of our students.
When it comes to internships, allowing this community to get involved in our students’ education is dramatically important. Imagine if every student had the opportunity to experience the career they think they want to do. They may decide, yes I was right and I loved the experience I had. The other, just as important, experience is, no I hated that, and better to find out before spending time and resources. And employers in the community get to experience these bright, tech-savvy young people with fresh ideas to bring their business to the next level.
What was your favorite subject in school as a student?
English was, but I was convinced I was going to be an engineer. I got accepted into a really good engineering school, the Air Force Academy.
But at the end of my junior year I failed mechanical engineering. What I found was that I absolutely hated math. So I changed my mind and I became an English major. I instantly became a happier person. But I didn’t end up picking my career and fell into one of the best things that’s happened to me in my life, which was flying airplanes. I’ve been all over the world, been to 73 countries and lived in 13 of them. I’ve experienced cultures like I never thought I would have, and my family got to do those things with me.
I’ve been told that I’m very calm under stress, and I think it’s because of the intense flying program I went through. Every day was a major academic test as well as a major flying test. But people ask me what’s harder: flying in combat or being in education? I will always say that being in education is the hardest. The emotions attached to your child are so much greater.
What can we find you up to on the weekends?
I enjoy spending time with my wife and my three daughters, fishing, biking, camping and lots of outdoor activities. We’re expecting our first grandchild in October, so there are some very exciting things I am looking forward to.
Closing thoughts?
Stressful issues have come up for the district in the past, and there will be more of those. I’d like to do my best to hear both sides and base decisions on those opinions and what’s right for the students. I want to make sure all students matter, and we have to make decisions as a community based on what’s best for those students. I know what it’s like to be a teacher and my job is to support all the adults in the school district who are supporting our community’s children, while also hearing input and doing what’s best for the community.
