Vic White leaves behind legacy of listening to others

BY DANI TIETZ
dani@mahometnews.com

Vic White had a short career as a teacher, but a long tenure as a school administrator.

One constant in his more than 30 years in education is his ability to learn while on the job.

And now, as he prepares to retire as superintendent at the Prairieview-Ogden School District, where he has worked since 1996, he fondly recalls the one point which has been reinforced since he first became a high school principal at age 25: White didn’t have all of the answers.

What he has possessed is the source to find those solutions. The key to where he has gone and what he has accomplished can be found in his willingness to listen to input from others.

White hailed from Tampico, Ill., the birthplace of Ronald Reagan.

“Back in the day, people would come by in droves,” White remembers.

He was one of the few who were present when Reagan returned to his hometown in 1979 to announce his bid for the Presidency. The moment left a lasting impression on the man who keeps a book written by Reagan nearby.

While Reagan’s presence is something White looks back on fondly, he knows that his course in life was greatly influenced by social studies teacher and assistant football coach Phil Wiersema.

“He was as close as you can get to a friend, but he’s really your teacher,” White said. “I could sit and talk to him.”

A star at Tampico High School, White went to college at the University of Dubuque with his sights set on continuing his athletic career while also getting a degree in education, focusing on social studies.

“I wasn’t big enough (to play football),” White said. “I realized that when I got hurt right away.

“I went from a small high school, where I might have been somewhat of a star there, to a small college where I was small.”

White didn’t leave his ambitions behind, though.

He went on to teach social studies and a session of P.E. at Milford High School. He also coached fifth-grade basketball, was the head track coach for the junior high school and was also an assistant football coach at the high school.

His work ethic did not go unnoticed. Milford’s principal at the time, Bill Hudgens, told White he thought he would make a great principal.

White listened.

“So I went and started working on my degree,” White said. “At age 25, they hired me as the first principal ever. They always had a superintendent/principal. The town was growing at that time with three canning factories.

“It was a great, great experience, but there were teachers who had been teaching longer than I was (alive).”

With only four years of classroom experience under his belt, White spent time learning from others in that leadership position, and has used that same mentality for the last three decades.

“Evaluating teachers was very difficult in a lot of aspects,” White said. “I tried to stay as much to the book as I could because I felt like I’m not a person to be telling them what to do.

“I was young and I needed to listen and learn. And that’s what I did for those first five years. You’re supposed to have knowledge about everything, and you really sometimes don’t.”

White said he offered his suggestions and opinions, but knew that the teachers and staff were the professionals. He wanted to offer them support rather than dictate what needed to be done for their students or the facilities.

His approach once again caught the attention of Hudgens, who suggested that White work towards becoming a superintendent.

While White and his wife, Sherri, were raising three small boys, he worked during the day as a principal, then drove back and forth from Milford to Eastern Illinois University to complete his degree to become certified as a superintendent.

The effort paid off when, at the age of 30, White was brought on as the superintendent at Prairieview.

“It’s a great community. A lot of caring people have very good values,” White said. “It’s about raising your kids from the values and the morals I think that are lacking sometimes today.”

By 2005, Prairieview and Ogden were in consolidation talks as Ogden’s superintendent, Jim Morgan, retired.

White jokes that he’s been superintendent of three districts while being in the Royal office the entire time.

In his 24 years at Prairieview-Ogden, White has wanted to be a fair administrator; one that students knew that they could talk with about what they did wrong and one that would be in the lunchroom where he can to catch up on life’s events.

“I go and eat with the kids every day for 24 years; if I’m here, I eat with the students,” White said. “I take turns at each table.The cook keeps track of where I’ve been and where I should go the next time.

“If I ever have had a bad day, that just makes me feel so much better.”

It’s not uncommon to see White outside with the kids, either.

When he’s in the building, he greets them outside as they arrive to school: rain, snow or sunshine.

It’s also not uncommon to find White shooting baskets or playing a “foam ball” baseball game.

He hopes that the students see that they can relate to administrators on a personal level.

“I also enjoy that experience of being with the kids,” White said. “I guess that’s one thing that I want the kids to always remember about me: Mr. White always took the time and sat with me and listened to me and ate with us.”

Since his first administrative position at Milford, White has understood that leadership means more than dictating from the top of the pyramid.

With Prairieview-Ogden’s South Campus principal Jeff Isenhower and the Prairieview-Ogden Junior High School principal Carl Heuer by his side, White has always hoped that the district’s vision trickled down.

“We have a solid staff here both certified and non-certified,” White said.

“My leadership is just guidance. I strongly try to do stuff by gathering input and opinions. I might not always agree with you or your opinion, but I gather that before I make a decision, and I strongly feel that that should be done more than trying to be led from the top.”

His methods, along with a strong team and a community that provides a strong foundation, has bred success.

White coached the Prairieview-Ogden Junior High seventh and eighth-grade volleyball teams for a decade, leading the program to 410 victories with only 60 losses, capturing 17 out of 20 IESA Regional titles and 15 out of 20 IESA Sectional titles. His teams also brought home five IESA State trophies.

Prairieview-Ogden has also been recognized by the Illinois State Board of Education for financial excellence annually since 2003 alongside consistently receiving recognition for academic excellence.

“I really strongly believe that success breeds success,” White said. “If you push that you want to be the best in academics, and you get everybody on board: parents, teachers, and all the staff members, it’s going to happen.”

By providing academic and athletic opportunities that bring out the best in students, Prairieview-Ogden is helping to raise well-rounded children.

White knows that the school district is just helping, too.

“I believe that the parents, if they have strong morals and values, are a big, big part of that,” he said.

White said that when parents engage with their children in academics, to achieve the results they want, students are going to reap the rewards. The same applies to athletics, as well.

“It’s the foundation,” White said. “You have to have a good foundation if you’re going to build a nice house. I think the foundation is the wonderful parents and grandparents that have morals and values.”

White’s values wouldn’t allow him to leave the district without making sure all of the pieces were in place.

Early in 2019, the Prairieview-Ogden Board voted to use the 2019-2020 school year as a transition year as Isenhower and Heuer move up in the district ranks.

“I want to give him a fighting chance where you’re not feeling like you’re drowning every day,” White said.

White has mentored Isenhower on all the paperwork that knocked him off his feet in his first year at PV-O. He’s also keeping a running list of what needs to be completed and when.

As an administrator, White has also set up the district for success in the upcoming years.

In the last 24 years, White has brought in $2.359,929 million, $98,330.37 per year, through grants to the Prairieview-Ogden School District.

The grants have brought in computer equipment, security measures, renovations to the gymnasium, new roofs, electrical upgrades, stop arms for buses, geothermal upgrades, SMART boards, defibrillators, energy efficiency upgrades and fiber optics lines.

White said many of the grants funded projects that the district wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford.

When White came to Prairieview in 1996, the district had $843,993 in reserves. When he hands over the reins in 2020, the total in reserves will at least be $4,278,537, but could be higher if early tax money comes in before July 1.

“We’ve built up some reserves in case we do have some bad years coming up where the economy turns downward and the state isn’t allowed to pay in or property taxes need to be brought down.

“I’m hoping that gives them that cushion for a few years. I would hate to walk away and, for some reason, 5 or 10 years down the road, they have to close their doors.

“I think it’s a great little school district, and I’d hate to see it go away.”

As White prepares for the next phase of life, he is excited to see what’s next.

He and his wife have purchased a property in Missouri along the Lake of the Ozarks where he can fish and they can spend time together.

White said he’s just going to listen to how things go. The couple wanted to make sure that they were within driving distance of their sons so they could see them on the weekends. Other than that, he’s not sure if he will try to teach at a community college or just enjoy life looking out from their dock.

“She had open-heart surgery last year,” White said. “And she was sick for a long time after that. When your spouse of 32 years goes through that, we’re going retire together and enjoy our life.”