Hart District Superintendent Gets Back to Basics as Substitute Teacher

Supt. Walt Swanson peers into the black eye sockets of a skull topped by a decaying green Army helmet, speaking firmly about the importance of paying attention.

Behind the latex sockets is a seventh-grader in a white T-shirt, baggy blue shorts and multicolored sneakers, who moments ago was listening halfheartedly to a health and science discussion.

Swanson, a large but soft-spoken man in a gray suit and red tie, finishes the admonishment by unconsciously patting the student on the shoulder. The boy sighs, rolling his eyes under the now upturned mask, but begins to follow along.

It is the first educational hitch of the morning for Swanson’s day-long stint as a substitute teacher at Placerita Junior High School on Friday, the last school day before Halloween.

Swanson has made a point of teaching three or four days each year since he took over as superintendent of the William S. Hart Union High School District last year.

“I value getting back into the classroom. It’s where the action is,” said Swanson, 50. “It’s good to get back on the front line.”

He asked for no special favors during his work as a substitute, and he spends his first hour on the campus trying to familiarize himself with the lesson plans left for him.

Raised in Kansas and Missouri, Swanson began teaching in 1965 in Kansas City. He was drafted in 1967 by the Army to serve in Vietnam and returned to teaching two years later, working as a substitute because the academic year had already begun.

He returned to full-time teaching for the next three years, then pursued a master’s degree and began teaching as an adjunct professor. He worked as an associate superintendent in San Diego’s Poway Unified School District for three years before replacing 16-year Hart superintendent Clyde Smyth in January, 1992.

On Friday, Swanson greeted each student coming into the classroom--asking names, shaking hands and guessing the meanings of their costumes.

“It’s really difficult when you don’t know the kids. In a lot of ways, it’s like the first day or first week of class,” Swanson said. “I let them know I’m the superintendent so they know I know the rules. There’s usually one or two that try me, though.”

“You’ve got to be willing to have some disruption,” he added. “I’m not going to have them come in and just be good, placid little absorbers of information.”

Swanson admits--before the students arrive--that science is not his most familiar subject, but he draws upon real-life examples to interest the class.

He explains simple machines by comparing them to puppies, and spices up Vitamin A data with World War II folklore about the U. S. trying to hide its radar technology by having pilots claim that they drank high amounts of carrot juice to improve their accuracy.

Swanson roams the classroom, answering questions about the assignment left by their regular teacher. When the student in the skeleton mask is among the first to finish, Swanson checks the work and then has him help a student who is stymied.

“Smart kid,” Swanson said, approving.

He ends the period the way it began, shaking hands with each student as they leave. One girl, noting Swanson’s lack of a costume, gives him a black, plastic spider ring to wear.

“That went pretty well,” said Swanson, after the classroom clears. “I’m going to be exhausted by the end of the day.”