Linton Supt. Steve Nelson says he has mixed emotions about taking early retirement after a 32-year career in education, and he will miss students the most.

Nelson and his wife, Deb, will be moving in August to Fargo where they are building a new home and will be closer to their three sons, two daughters-in-law and two grandsons. His duties at the school end June 30.

“Kids are graduating from high school who weren’t even born when we came to Linton in 1985,” Nelson said. “In some cases, I had their parents as students.”

He felt his emotions about leaving Linton on Saturday during the Prom.

“We’ve made a lot of improvements in the Prom, and it was fun to see the kids having fun,” Nelson said. “It’s hard to think of it as the last one for me in Linton.”

Nelson said he feels fortunate to have worked with so many great (and successful) kids, good teachers, a strong support staff and a good board of education.

“The boards I have worked with have allowed me to be the administrator and make decisions without their micro-managing,” Nelson said. “I could not have stayed in my profession all these years if I had to deal with micro-managing by boards.”

He has been impressed with the overall good behavior of Linton students. He believes students should be held accountable, and his educational philosophy has been—“Tell kids what you expect, and you will usually get it.”

Nelson said he has appreciated the support of parents who he said “have backed me up” on disciplinary matters.

“It is a tribute to the Germans from Russian heritage,” he observed. “People are more from the old school—if their kid gets in trouble at school, he/she is in trouble at home.”

Nelson said he has been a believer in spending time every day in the hallway with the kids.

“For every problem I see with behavior, I see 15 positive things,” he said. “Seeing the success of the kids is what makes this profession so rewarding.”

He said kids make him laugh, and he could write a book about all of the funny things that have happened in the school.

“I am never down very long because a kid will say something that brings a smile to my face,” he said.

Nelson said he has tried to be a steady, stable force in the school and to let credit for good things go to the staff who make it happen.

“I am a low key kind of guy, and I hope that has had a positive impact on the school,” he said.

Inroads on alcohol issues in the school have been made, according to Nelson, and he is pleased that there is more awareness of the problem and with progress in dealing with it.

Nelson said he has been fortunate as superintendent to have very few staff changes.

“Linton has excellent teachers, and many of them have been here for a long time,” he observed. “That shows dedication and commitment to a school and a community.”

Tough years

In over three decades in education, Nelson has had only two “tough years.”

The first was 2003-04 when two students—senior Jay Senger and freshman Steven Wood—lost their lives in car accidents, Jay in the fall and Steven in the spring.

“Many administrators serve their careers without experiencing tragedies like these, and we had two in one school year,” Nelson explained. “Both were good kids, and I knew them from when they started Kindergarten. It was a difficult time for students, staff and families.”

The other difficult period was 2006-07 when his sons Aaron and Brian were activated for service in Afghanistan with the North Dakota National Guard.

“No one can understand what that does to a parent,” Nelson said. “It was a tough time for Deb and me. There was a lot of anxiety.”

Both boys were in combat zones. Three members of Brian’s units were killed during his time in Afghanistan, and Aaron call to report that his vehicle had been hit, with one soldier injured in a close call.

“I can’t tell you how happy we were to have them back in North Dakota,” Nelson said.

School changes

When Nelson came to Linton in 1985 as high school principal, there were 180 students in high school, with two teachers each for science, business, social studies, math and English. Now, enrollment is 115 with one teach for each of those classes.

“We used to be a big Class B school, and now were in the small to mid-range,” he pointed out.

On the administrative side, Nelson said the paperwork and government red tape has increased dramatically over the years, and superintendents have to attend lots more meetings that are mandated by the state.

The federal No Child Left Behind Act has had some positive impact on making sure kids are better prepared when they graduate, but he said the value of many facets of it are difficult to understand. It has also added to the paperwork.

He said schools are increasingly responding to state and federal mandates rather than to local school board decisions.

Nelson said computers were primitive when he came to Linton, but eventually there was one computer lab. Now, there are three, and there is an ongoing effort to try to keep up with technology.

“There is a lot more to be done to catch up with educational technology, but I believe our board is committed to do what it takes,” he said.

The addition of Interactive Television (ITV) was a milestone, and Linton was the first school in the area to participate.

“ITV is something that I pushed hard to bring to Linton,” Nelson said. “It was costly to get it established, but it has been a great thing for our school.”

The school receives a variety of courses via ITV, including Spanish, German, art, anatomy, accounting and several college classes. Sandy Meidinger, formerly on the Linton faculty, is now employed by the ITV network and broadcasts Spanish classes from the Linton School’s studio.

“There is no other way to offer this kind of curriculum in a small school,” Nelson said.

Extra-curriculars

Nelson said it has been a pleasure to be part of a school with such strong extra-curricular activities—speech, FCCLA and sports.

“In some ways, Linton has been the victim of its own success in its sports program,” Nelson said. “Some people criticize it and say there is too much emphasis on sports. I do not agree with that, and I strongly believe that all extra-curricular activities have a very positive impact on students.”

Nelson said people often forget that Linton offers a broader curriculum than other schools in the area, and it has an outstanding academic record.

“Our coaches are advocates of academic success, and they have never asked for excuses for an athlete who is not doing well with classes,” Nelson said. “They support academics, and that is evident in the Team Scholar Awards the school has been awarded over the years.”

Requiring good grades and good behavior to participate in extra-curricular activities contributes toward a hard working group of students who have pride in what they do.

He said sports accounts for less than three percent of the school district’s budget and generates revenue for school improvements. The district pays coach salaries and transportation—the rest of the costs are paid for by gate receipts, concessions and fund-raising.

“We are fortunate to have successful teams, and it is good for the school as well as the community,” Nelson said.

He said the community can take pride in the accomplishments of students in speech and FCCLA, noting that some of the FCCLA students go to national competition almost every year.

“Many communities do not have what we have,” Nelson said.

Starting out

Nelson is a native of Gwinner where he graduated from North Sargent High School in 1971.

He is the son of the late Marvin and Gladys Nelson, and he has one brother, Mark (Jan) of Grand Forks.

After being awarded a football scholarship to Valley City State University where he earned his B.S. Degree in Education in 1976, he was hired as the business education and physical education teacher at Tappen where he also coached baseball and boys basketball.

He learned how far his salary would go when he opted to take the $7,800 over nine months instead of 12.

“When school was out, I was out of money,” Nelson laughed.

He ended up hauling garbage in Steele to support himself.

In the fall of 1979, Nelson began his duties as high school principal and business education teacher at the Medina School. In 1985, the year he was hired by the Linton School, he earned his Master’s Degree in 1985 in Educational Administration at the University of North Dakota, Grand Forks.

Members of the Linton School Board who hired Nelson were President Dick Nicklos, the late Connie Bossert, Jerry Huber, Dr. Donald Janecek and Sue Sandwick. Jack Nagel (a current board member) and Alan Senger joined the board after he became superintendent.

Family

On May 11, 1974, Nelson married his high school sweetheart, Deb Even of Stirum, in Cogswell. She graduated from North Sargent High School in 1972.

Deb’s parents are Roger Even of Stirum and the late Mardell Even.

She is one of nine children. Her brothers and sisters are: Linda (David) McFarland of Gwinner, Mary Slattery of Fargo, Diane (Allen) McDaniel of Gwinner, twin sister Donna (Milan) Soklic of Ft. Myers, Fla., Roger Jr. of Las Vegas, Nev., David (Leann) of Cogswell, Michael (Bev) of Detroit Lakes, Minn., and Julie (Jon) Hanson of Grand Forks.

Deb is a graduate of Joseph’s School of Hair Design in Fargo, but she has never worked as a hair dresser.

The Nelson have three sons, all of whom graduated from Linton High School.

Eric and his wife, Karen, have one son, Logan, who was born June 12, 2007. They live in Fargo where Eric works for SEI Information Technology and Karen is employed by Eide Bailly. Eric graduated from Moorhead state with a finance degree, and Karen has a marketing degree from Concordia College.

Aaron and his wife, Jess, have one son, Noah, who was born April 14, 2008. They live in Woodbury, a suburb of St. Paul, Minn. Aaron is a lead teacher at the Learning Center, and Jess works in marketing for Sebesta, an engineering firm. Aaron, a certified teacher, has an education degree from North Dakota State University, Fargo, and Jess holds a marketing degree from Moorhead State.

Brian is studying finance at Moorhead State University and will graduate next year.

The future

Nelson said he and Deb will miss Linton and all of the friends they have made.

As he looks to the next chapter in his life, he admits, “I have no clue what I’ll do next.”

He’ll probably take some time off and work on the house until this fall and then get serious about finding a job.

“I don’t plan to be an administrator or teacher, but there are some education-related jobs that I may look at,” Nelson said.

He said he wants a new career with less pressure and shorter hours (superintendents often work 70-80 hours a week, counting evening events and meetings).

“We have enjoyed our years in Linton, and it is a great place to raise children,” the Nelsons said. “We’ll miss everybody.”