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Published: 29 October 2016 29 October 2016

Breaking News: The Board of the Silver Consolidated Schools, after three committees'a school staff committee, a committee made up of community members and the board itself'spent hours on Saturday, questioning the candidates for superintendent, asked Audie Brown to take the position and he accepted.

Editor's Note: The article that follows is a report on what the public heard at the public forum on Friday evening. (It was only briefly proofed, so if you find errors, please email the editor).

Superintendent search public forum 20161028

By Margaret Hopper and Mary Alice Murphy

On Friday evening, Oct. 28, 2016, five candidates for superintendent of Silver Consolidated Schools had the opportunity to answer questions in front of the public.

Before the forum, the Beat had a chance to ask each one why he wanted to be superintendent of Silver Schools.

Dr. Greg Rockhold said his goal is to groom teachers and staff and to provide the tools to make them successful. "I see a benefit to the kids with that approach. I want to see what I can do to develop staff and let them fly."

Johnny Benavidez told the Beat: "My goal when I started teaching was to become a superintendent. I'm still hanging on to my goals.Gǥ

Michael Chavez said he has always been called to leadership, on sports teams, and in college he held leadership positions. "I have a heart for public education and the kids. You need good leadership to stand for the schools. We've got to be accountable and believe we can achieve. I'm looking for the opportunity to take what I have learned to benefit the students."

Frank Chiapetti said he's at a point where he wants to go to a smaller district. The Gallup District has more than 35,000 students. "My daughter graduated from Western New Mexico University last year. I've always loved the area. My ex-wife is from Cliff. Silver is a good district that needs some tender-loving care. I'm happy to see the elementary school grades' proficiency is increasing. Now I want to do it for the Middle and High School. I want to give teachers the autonomy to deliver the information. If the teacher is passionate about what he or she is doing, they have better engagement."

Audie Brown described Grant County as home. "I understand some of the challenges and the healing that needs to take place. I want to do it because it's home. I have the experience of turning around three schools in the Albuquerque Public Schools system and for turning around one district. I would like to bring my experience to Silver City."

Dan Patterson, of the New Mexico School Board Association, has aided the Silver Consolidated School Board in the superintendent search. He explained he would be asking each candidate the same three questions.

The first was to ask the candidates to tell about themselves.

Brown had chosen the "winning" number. "I have bachelor's and master's degrees in education from the University of New Mexico and received my training for superintendent from Abilene Christian University. "Prior to my education, I was self-employed with my brother in a successful business. Because of that experience, I chose to get an education. We hired a young man who was personable and charismatic, but within a very short time, we began to receive complaints about him from customers and his fellow workers. We provided support to him, but ultimately had to release him. He had the willingness to work, but not the skills. That's why I chose to become an educator. If you do not prepare students for the world, you do them a disservice. They will be competing with people from all over the world, as well as competing with people who have experience on the job. I want to help them be able to reach the experience they need. It is what keeps me going every day."

Rockhold said hiring the next superintendent is gravely important. He received his bachelor's and master's degrees from Eastern New Mexico University and his Ph.D. from Albuquerque's Trinity Southwest University.

He has had a number of career advancements in New Mexico, Tennessee, Colorado and Alaska, where he held the position of principal a number of times and, for a short period, that of superintendent. He is presently the assistant principal and athletic director at Heizer Middle School in Hobbs. His credentials include being on the board of the National Association of Secondary School Principals, past executive director of the New Mexico Association of Secondary School Principals and past president of the New Mexico Coalition of Administrators.

He has worked with the NM Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development and the National Association of Secondary School Principals: No Child Left Behind National Task Force. In 2004 he was the New Mexico Assistant Principal of the year; in 2002, a finalist for middle and high school Principal of the Year.

"We need leaders who will encourage the staff," he continued. "Seeing students succeed is a blast. As a former Marine, going into education was like putting on a pair of boots that fit well. I love going to school every day. I love the camaraderie and I see things change for the better every day."

Michael Chavez, who said most people call him Mike, described himself as a Christian man, married 30 years to a wife who is a candidate for House District 32. He grew up in Deming and left to go to New Mexico State University, with no intention of every returning to Deming. "I have spent 23 years in the Deming Schools, as a middle school and high school teacher, as well as an English as a Second Language teacher. I have coached. I was assistant principal for the middle school and then principal. I was director of the Bi-lingual Education/Title III program and am now director of federal programs for Deming Public Schools.

He is currently working on helping the roll out of the federal program Every Student Succeeds. Chavez also works with Principals Pursuing Excellence as a mentor for other principals. In the community he has worked with the music ministry of Calvary Chapel in Deming, and has coached children's athletics for some organizations.

Johnny Benavidez said he was glad to see parents in the audience. "I invite parents to come see me at any time. I spent 30 years in the Hurley Smelter and went to school while I was working. I started teaching 19 days after I retired from the smelter. I worked in kindergarten because I wanted to see where education began."

He taught bi-lingual education in Deming and then Spanish at Snell Middle School in the Cobre School District. He was assistant principal at Cobre and then was put into transportation, where he spent only one year, because he protested that was not taking advantage of his experience. When I went to Cobre High School, the school started to improved. Arne Duncan started a program for principals and selected several hundred to attend. Only 120 completed the program. "It was an 80 percent drop out rate."

For me, students come first, teachers second and administrators last," Benavidez said. "We come and go." He has a BS in education and has served as a principal at Central Elementary and at high school. He also has training as a test coordinator and transportation director for the school.

Frank Chiapetti said he is a single father of three children. His daughter graduated from WNMU last year with a double major in zoology and psychology. She is working in Thailand with Burmese refugees and special needs Thai children. In January, she will return to the state to work for the wolf sanctuary 40 miles out of Gallup. He said his son is 21 and his younger daughter is in 6th grade.

"My passion has always been kids," Chiapetti said. He holds a masters degree in special education from Western New Mexico University/Gallup, earned in 1996. Another MA in educational leadership also came from WNMU/Gallup, in 2001. The BS in business administration was earned at NMSU in 1989. He said he began teaching in 1993, 23 years ago.

He served as the principal for a "rough school of 1,500 8th and 9th graders. The school was known for fights and drugs; there were 400 student arrests that year. With a great staff, we turned the school around and it became known more for academics. I love kids and tolerate adults. I became superintendent for Gallup because of a need for leadership. The schools were receiving only Ds and Fs. Now they are receiving no Fs, only 7Ds in the last grading." He became McKinley County's superintendent in 2013.

The second question was on values and ethics and Patterson asked each to give examples of how, as a leader, they use these values and ethics.

Chavez said he had studied leadership. "No. 1, a leader has to have integrity, which is closely tied to honesty. It's easy when you talking about good things, but sometimes, you have to have fierce conversations. Consistency is also important, and respect. What you're really after is trust. Without that nothing else comes into place. You have to get beyond compliance to commitment. I am a principal mentor. I am working with three Las Cruces principals."

"My goal is to get to trust, so I can start coaching the teachers and staff and get to collaboration, with everyone working together," Chavez said.

Benavidez agreed that integrity was primary. "It comes in so many way, but you have to show students integrity. High performing schools create a culture of learning. The staff, I call the learning community, and the public, the greater community. I want to make sure teachers can succeed. Ethically we have to work with the community. I am goal-centered for myself and for the teachers. I have had to bend the line sometimes, but I always work to take care of the students. I have to have a vision for the schools and the staff."

Chiapetti said he is student-oriented. "I start on any idea with how it will affect the students. What is the outcome for the students? The students, the parents and the community are the stakeholders. Honesty comes back to trust. With any opportunity, I will pursue it, if it is good for students. I have trained principals with the Darden sustainability program. If it's state-funded, we can leverage it."

"Loyalty comes back to trust," Chiapetti said. "Autonomy is important. I fully believe that local schools have different needs. I support local autonomy with guidance. My job is to support from the top down."

Rockhold cited the ethics of the Boy Scouts from trustworthy to servant leadership. "As a Marine, I understand the leader has to be in front, with those who trust you following behind. As superintendent, I am one-half step in front of the staff, beside the teachers and behind to catch if they fall."

"I have to be listening to how things work in the classrooms," Rockhold said. "When you lead, they come to you. I have three people who followed me to Hobbs. If they trust me, then we have a relationship."

He cited the two keys as data and culture. "I want the staff smiling and skipping at the end of a long day. When the teachers are smiling at the end of the day, you know you have success."

Brown started with a quote from John Quincy Adams that begins with "if actions inspire you to dream more, and you learn more, and do more, and you become more, then you are the leader."

"I live the values each day of honesty, integrity, consistency, dedication, and fairness." Brown said.

When he was principal of a school, and the school was asking to fill the assistant principal position, "I chose to fight to hire more teachers to lower the teacher-student ratio. At Estancia Schools, a member of the board asked me if I needed an assistant superintendent. I declined, because I wanted the assistant for the teachers. Teachers need support. I'm a firm believer that if I forget what it's like to walk in the principals' and teachers' shoes, then it's time to leave these shoes."

The third and final question was: "What are the roles and responsibilities of the leader, and how will you demonstrate them?"

"Constituents elect the board members," Chiapetti said. "The work toward goals needs to come from the bottom up, from staff, teachers, students, secretaries, custodians, bus drivers, food service personnel."

He promotes safety for students getting to school, healthy meals at school. He has created leadership councils for the community, including CEOs, the city and county managers, and business leaders to determine the needs of the community.

"If the schools are not providing the work force the businesses and managers need, that is a need at the schools," Chiapetti said. "My goal is to support home-grown graduates to go to Western and to stay and help the town and county to thrive. My job is to provide tools for the staff."

Chavez said it's the difference between compliance and commitment. "One of the first things is to define the purpose and to facilitation communication to get to the purpose. You have to be transparent in the process. Then work on the goals. I am very task-oriented and system-oriented. We have to have the foresight as leaders to see what coming down the road. What are the new components of the 1.5 percent cuts from the state? Don't wait for it, be pro-active. We have to hold people accountable, not just top down but also bottom up. Be on the same page, with a common purpose and common goal."

Brown again began with a quote, this time from Teddy Roosevelt that people support what they help create.

"When I first arrived at the school where I am now, there was a line of people who wanted to visit with me," Brown said. "I made the commitment to listen. We are in the heart of the South Valley of Albuquerque. There were two main issuesG