7QUESTIONS+PLUS

Joe Mangi, the interim superintendent for the Kenosha Unified School District. A graduate of Milwaukee’s Marquette High School and Marquette University in the 1960s, Mangi was inspired by President John Kennedy’s words — “Ask not what your country can do for you, but ask what you can do for your country,” — and joined the Peace Corps. He soon became a teacher and arrived in Kenosha in 1970, eventually serving as a principal at multiple schools. Now, he’s in his second stint as Kenosha Unified’s interim superintendent.

Joe Mangi will now take your questions ...

What is it like to be the only guy to come out of retirement as often as Michael Jordan?

It’s a wonderful feeling to be needed, especially when you’re emotionally connected to the students, teachers and administrators in our school system. Oprah Winfrey once said, “Do as much good as you can for as long as you ever can.” I care deeply about our schools and our community. I see teachers performing miracles with kids on a daily basis. We have school board members who are concerned and who care, who want to do what’s best for kids, as do our administrators. How can you possibly say no to caring people who need you? I’ll keep coming back as long as I have the strength and stamina to do so.

Why did you send your daughter St. Joseph High School?

My three children all attended Southport Elementary and Lincoln Junior High School. Aubrey and Michael went to Tremper High School after Lincoln and Nicole went to St. Joe’s. Nicole wanted to be in St. Joe’s outstanding theater program and study under director Scott Seidel. When Holly Stanfield came to Bradford, Nicole performed in theater productions at both schools.

What are some of the biggest changes in education affecting learning?

Computer technology and No Child Left Behind mandates have both had a tremendous impact on curriculum, course offerings, and how education is delivered. Foreign languages and our elective course offerings have suffered as a result.

What can parents do to help their children do well in school?

Be supportive, involved and encouraging. Stay connected with your kids throughout their school years, K-12. Attend parent conferences regularly and work together with your child’s teachers to help your child succeed. Talk to your kids on a daily basis, know who their friends are, and listen, really listen.

What can the Unified school board do to keep superintendents working here longer?

I have a lot of respect for our school board members. They’ve sacrificed a great deal in terms of time, money and energy to serve our community, to make difficult decisions, and to lead our school district. Superintendents who stay longer tend to be home grown. They have roots in our community, live here, have family here and share the same values as our school board members.

What do you think is the best way to address Unified’s overcrowding situation?

As long as we continue to grow as a community, there are no easy solutions. We’re now the third largest school district in the state, trailing only Milwaukee and Madison. Our school board and citizens have made an admirable commitment to educate our community’s children over the years, with the recent additions of Mahone Middle School, Nash, EBSOLA, a new Frank Elementary and now American Brass in the heart of the city. Now we need to address the serious overcrowding at Bradford and Tremper with the referendum in February. There are only so many portables that you can add to our comprehensive high schools. With only two sets of athletic programs at the high school level, too many students are being cut from our athletic programs at the high school level, too many students are being cut from our athletic teams and extracurricular programs such as cheerleading and theatre. Moving ninth graders back to the middle schools won’t work because overcrowding issues permeate pre-K through grade 12. We’re running out of buildings to lease for charter schools. We even have waiting lists to enroll in Head Start. Kenoshans have always supported education. People in our community care about kids and I believe while continue to do so,

What’s the best advice you’ve received?

As an administrative intern at Lincoln Junior high in the early 1970s, I had the opportunity to work with Sylvia Leon, a Spanish teacher at Lincoln who had fled Castro’s Cuba. Sylvia would often say, “Joe, when you become a principal, remember the most important thing you can do in education is to recruit and hire teachers who have these two qualities: They have to love kids and they have to love teaching. Everything else is secondary. These are the people who will make a difference in kids’ lives. Sylvia was right, and I tried to follow her advice as best I could.

What’s your ideal retirement scenario?

Having enough time to travel, spend time with my family, but still be connected to our school system. It’s a great feeling to be needed and to be able to share what you know with the next generation of principals and administrators. I’d also like to catch a few Brewers games or Marquette University basketball games along the way. I’ve followed the Packers since the 1950s, even before Vince Lombardi.

How do you relax after a tough night dealing with the school board?

I’ll have a bowl of cereal with berries, usually Frosted Mini-Wheats, and try to watch a Cary Grant or Humphrey Bogart film on the Turner Movie Channel. I also read quite a bit. I like Michael Connolly’s Detective Harry Bosch series and I read everything on The New York Times best seller list.

What are you most proud of about the Kenosha Unified District? What frustrates you?

I am most proud of the large number of people in our district who are committed to doing what’s best for our students. Teachers, principals, support staff, parents, school board members, and administrators all care deeply about our school system. It’s a good feeling to be a part of an organization where people care and want to do the right things. What frustrates me? As a high school principal when problems arose, you met your school team and developed strategies to solve the problem. You could move fairly quickly. As a superintendent, the process toward resolution of issues takes much longer. There are more factors to consider and there are more people who need to have input in the decision-making process. There is a system of checks and balances in place which is good, but at times it feels like we’re running in place and not making progress.

What’s your best advice to students?

Listen to your parents and teachers. They’re trying to prepare you to meet the many challenges of the future. Believe in yourself. You can do it. Start today. This is the time and this is the place to give it your best. When today is gone, it’s gone forever. You’ll never know how good you can be, unless you give 110 percent. Be a connector. Reach out to other students. Everyone remembers Paul Revere; no one remembers Andrew Dawes. According to Malcolm Gladwell in “The Tipping Point,” on the eve of the American Revolution, each had exactly the same task: Ride 13 miles through eight towns and villages and warn everyone, “The British are coming, the British are coming!” Paul Revere rode to the north, Andrew Dawes rode to the west. Everyone mobilized for Paul Revere; the British were soundly defeated at the Battle of the Lexington, Concord. No one mobilized for Andrew Dawes. The British marched through the west untouched. Paul Revere was a connector. He knew everyone, from stable boys to farmers, to high-ranking patriots, John Hancock and Samuel Adams. Andrew Dawes never made the effort to get to know anyone but his own inner circle of friends. Learn from history; be a connector. You can make a difference in our world.

In your career, what’s the oddest thing you’ve heard a student say?

As a principal, I always made it a point to welcome students and teachers at the main entrance as they entered school each morning. When I came out of retirement to help out at EBSOLA last year, I started each day by holding a door open at the school’s entrance. Some of the younger kids couldn’t reach the door handle; parents would be holding a baby in one arm and a kindergartner in the other, and teachers would be bringing supplies into the school. Everyone needed a hand. There are eight doors at EBSOLA’s main entrance. The second day a young lady, a first-grader, asked me if I would give her a dollar if she held a door open. I said, “Sure.” The next morning, 50 kids were holding the doors open. In three days at EBSOLA, I was out $50 to first graders. The young lady was no longer holding a door; she had other kids doing it for her. She came over to me, smiled, looked up at me from knee level and said, “Mr. Mangi, you know what?” I said, “No, Nicole, what?” “You’ve got spiders in your nose.” Mortified, I kept my head down the rest of the day and bought a pair of nose clippers from Walgreens on the way home. Little kids see you from an entirely different vantage point.

As interim, you can leave at any time. What would cause you to say, “I’ve had enough” and walk off the job?

I could never do that. When you give your word to people who care, you have to keep your word. I promised to give my best for this school year and I will do that as long as my strength and stamina hold up.

What’s the best decision you ever made as an educator, and if you had the chance to go back and do one thing over, what is one thing you wished you didn’t do, or wished you would have done differently?

It’s always about the people, the teachers and administrators you’ve recruited and hired. They’re the difference makers. Linda Euting and I recruited the first minority administrator ever at the ESC back in 1996. Andy Lattimore did a wonderful job and went on to become a superintendent in Texas. That decision opened the door for a number of outstanding minority administrators who have led the way in our ongoing journey to become a culturally competent school district. Bringing Holly Stanfield to Bradford was huge. Bradford’s theater program is considered by many to be the top high school theater program in the country. Again, it’s always about the people.
Done differently? Sometimes you hire people who let you down. They’re missing one of the components to be an outstanding educator, a love for students and a love of teaching. You feel like you failed our kids.

You’ve seen fashions come and go during your years as an educator. What’s the worst fashion you have ever seen?

The 1970s were pretty bad. Bell bottoms, flowered shirts, polyester suits. Nothing fit properly, nothing matched. Guys with pants hanging down, showing their underwear and holding their pants up with one hand ranks right up there with the worst fashions of all time.

You started the “Practice Peace” movement at Bradford to cut down on school violence. Besides cliche sayings and slogans, what can really be done to stop violence in our schools?

A concept such as “Practice Peace” is not a cliche if everyone embraces it. I always believed in encouraging students to do the right thing instead of telling them what not to do. Students can be a tremendous positive force in a school if you give them opportunities to make a difference. They bring energy, enthusiasm, honesty and creativity to the table. They need to be respected, listened to and give a sense of belonging. I would memorize hundreds of students’ names so that when I saw them during the day I could acknowledge them and call them by name. I modeled that practice from Mr. Stocker. In addition, every student would receive a “Practice Peace” T-shirt the first week of school, so now every one had a school spirit item to wear and would feel a part of Bradford High School. We had 2,000 kids promoting our peace message on a daily basis. It’s not the only strategy, but it’s a start. When you have a supportive faculty and student body working with you and everyone’s on the same page, the sky’s the limit.

How susceptible are Kenosha schools to a Columbine-like shooting, and what is being done to prevent something like that from happening?

We have caring principals and teachers who make every effort to stay connected to our schools. School safety is a priority. We have a strong partnership with the Kenosha Police and Sheriff’s departments. We have staff training programs in place for all employees to create and maintain safe schools. Security measures have been strengthened. We are working hard to engage all families and all aspects of our community in a positive manner. Still, we remain vulnerable because of our attention to the problem and all of our district’s initiatives, I believe we’re in a better place than we were five or 10 years ago.

The Kenosha Community Health Center welcomed a new leader Jan. 1 as it began a new phase, expanding to deliver basic health care to people who have no insurance or whose insurance does not cover all the services they need. The man taking the reigns of the KCHC is Jack Waters, a former marketing manager for Aurora Health Care who says he is inspired by the likes of Mary Lou Mahone, a proponent of rights for vulnerable citizens in Kenosha. His definition of happiness: A healthy community.