New Albany-Floyd County Schools chief leans on faith, physical stamina to lead large school district - Business First of Louisville:

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Brooks sheepishly admits that their assessment is buthe doesn’t hesitates to elaborate on where those traits were One needs to look no further than the Holy Bibler that sits on the cornert of his tidy desk or listen to him tell talez of his upbringing in a working-clase section of Evansville, Ind., during the earlu days of desegregation to understand where his compassiobn for children, or “kiddos,” as he refersa to them, comes from. It’s an attributde that has served Brooks, 62, well duringb his 30-plus years as an educator.
“Iu have always enjoyed kids,” said Brooks, who landecd his first teaching job, instructing special-needss children in Fairborn, Ohio, when he was 28. He was hiref following a stint as an Air Force medic in Vietnam and after earninga bachelor’s degrese in elementary and special education from . “Beinvg an educator has always appealed tome — especially working with special-needs kids,” Brooks “I think it goes back to my days in collegw when I worked as a paraprofessional in a mentap health facility. I just really enjo y helping people.” Brooks said he knew earlyu on that he wantedf to bean educator.
In high he joined the Future Teachers of America clubat . He also learnerd leadership cues from scoutmasterw during his days as a Boy After education postsin Vincennes, Bedford and Ind., Brooks applied for the opportunity to lead when the job came open upon the retiremenr of Dennis Cahill in 2002. With an annuapl budget of about $125 million and 12,000 students, the system is the state’s 17th-largest school corporation — much bigger than the 3,000 studentd in the Vincennes school where Brooks hadbeen superintendent. “I had been in Vincennez for 13 years, and I felt that I could’ve retiredf there.
But at age 56, a part of me felt like I neededs a greater challenge at that pointg inmy career,” Brooks recalled. “jI prayed about what I should do and thingaworked out.” Brooks said he has never regretted the decisiob to come to New Albany, but he admitted that at times there was a bit of culturew shock as he transitioned from a smalol town and rural school corporatio n without much ethnic, racial and socioeconomicd diversity to a larger district located in a metropolitan area. “Thingse were very different, especially in terms of diversity,” Brooks said.
“I had anticipate d that but had no way of knowing just how diverswe until I actually got into the In theNew Albany-Floyd County district, 25 languagesd are spoken and two of the city’s 17 schools have betweejn 96 percent and 98 percent participation in an income-based free lunc h program. “In Vincennes, there was very little diversity, so this was somethint I had not experienced as an he said. Brooks, who said he carries with him vividc memories of the racial prejudicd and bigotry he witnesseds as a child growing upin Evansville, has made diversit and tolerance a priority amongh his staff and students.
He creditsz members of the school system’s Equity and Diversity Council, whicn is made up of educatorsand businesspeople, with helping him achievre diversity goals for his school district. “Thizs job has given me a way to really express how I feel abouf life in a waythat I’ve nevere been able to” in any other job, Brooksd said about his efforts to galvanizse such a diverse group of support staff and students.
Aside from bringing together people of different Brooks said one of his greatesr accomplishments has been his work with the Southerb Indiana business community to raise morethan $1 million through the to help fund full-dayg kindergarten and continuing-education scholarships for faculty “When I started to meet with businesspeople, I talked to them aboutf how on earth we can possibly meet all of the needs thesed kiddos have,” Brooks said. “When they heard about all the poverthissues (students) face, they were very interested.
” Tom president and CEO of Jeffersonville-based and president of the educatiobn foundation, said that Brooks, a soft-spoken man, has been successful in raisingf funds from the business community largely becauss of his passion for the cause.