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by Jamie Carter
On Wednesday, July 1st Dr. Mike Koebel officially began his retirement. After over 15 years of service in the Dupo School district as Principal and later Superintendent and over 30 years in education, Dr, Koebel departs having the third longest tenure as Superintendent behind Patrick Mudd and A.C. Daugherty.
Mike Koebel was born in St. Louis and raised in Lebanon, IL. As a child he spent most of his summers and spare time on his grandparent’s farm in Oakdale, IL. Oakdale is in Washington County between Nashville and Pinckneyville. It was there that he discovered his future vocation. Farming. “I never wanted to be a teacher.” said Dr. Koebel. “My mother insisted after High School that I was going to college. I had planned to farm. I went to McKendree and graduated with a degree in education. My major was history, my minor was German. Then after college I went to farm and did so in 1974.”
But after changes in the family farm business Dr. Koebel found himself looking into education. “I student taught at Althoff High School in Belleville and suddenly realized that teaching wasn’t so bad. I really liked it.” After he completed his student teaching requirements Dr. Koebel was hired in the Lebanon school district. There he taught Social Studies and later became the Cooperative Education teacher in charge of vocational programs. Years later he moved to the Mascoutah school district serving as a German teacher for over ten years. During that time he initiated a student exchange program that still exists and is now over twenty years old. Having accomplished what he wanted as a teacher, Dr. Koebel decided to explore the possibilities of becoming an administrator. “I got my administration degree at SIU Edwardsville and applied to many school districts in the area. Eventually I was hired to replace William Reynolds as High School Principal here in Dupo.”
After a few years as Principal and having obtained his doctorate from St. Louis University, Dr. Koebel gave his wife and himself a present. They planned an overseas vacation to Europe where they would visit Germany and his wife’s home country of Austria. At that time the school district was having difficulty with former Superintendent George Taubenheim. Taubenheim left in 1998 and the district asked Dr. Koebel to assume the position immediately. Unfortunately with his overseas vacation planned and paid for he couldn’t take the job. And the school board felt that they couldn’t wait for his return so they hired Larry Elsea who served as Superintendent for three years before leaving for the O’Fallon school district. Once again the board offered Dr. Koebel the position and he accepted.
Looking back over the last eight years I asked Dr. Koebel what were the greatest challenges he faced as Superintendent. He said it was staff, facilities and finances. “We had to hire a lot of new staff. Our older teachers were retiring in droves especially at the elementary level. The challenge was getting good young teachers who were qualified and prepared for the modern teaching environment.” Regarding the facilities Dr. Koebel responded, “In my opinion the school board was wise in letting us move ahead with renovation. I think it’s a source of pride for the community and our teachers and students are reaping the benefits. We spent around ten million dollars on improvements. If you look at the Jr. and Sr. High inside and outside, they’re as good as any in the county or out of the county for that matter.” And what about the financial situation he inherited? “Our financial situation was dire when I got the job. We had about two million dollars of debt at that time. We saved some money with teachers who retired and some others who were dismissed. Eventually we became a lean, mean machine and that’s where I’ve kept it. But I must say it was not without the cooperation of our teachers and school board.”
So what was Dr. Koebel most proud of during his time at Dupo? Dr. Koebel responded, “Raising our test scores at the elementary level. That’s definitely the highlight. Now it’s trickling up to the Jr. High level. We heavily emphasized the K-3 levels and it’s starting to payoff.” Any regrets? “Well there are still some renovations I would have liked to have seen completed. But the biggest disappointment in my time here has been the low High School test scores. I just wish we could have found an answer for that.”
Since Dr. Koebel has served so many years in public education I asked him what he felt was the greatest change or changes in education. He said, “The biggest issue is how societal changes have resulted in so many children having so many special needs and handicaps before they even get into school. Also the No Child Left Behind legislation changed the way educators looked at their districts. It forced us to look at our curriculum and a lot of districts, Dupo included, weren’t doing that. If your students don’t meet or exceed the requirements you lose funding and then there’s all sorts of trouble.” What are the greatest challenges facing the Dupo school district? “Well the High School test scores have to be addressed. And funding could be an issue if the Illinois State Legislature can’t get it together.”
So what will Dr. Koebel do with his spare time now? He said, “One of the nicest things for me will be in October. The summer’s over, fall is on the way and I decide I want to go to Michigan. And I can just go. That will be nice. Other than that I’m going back to farming. I still own some acres that belonged to my grandfather in Washington County. But I want to say that it’s been my pleasure to serve the children, parents and citizens of the Dupo School District.”
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