La Follette Principal Joe Gothard helped turn around his alma mater

Tamira Madsen  —  5/07/2008 5:09 am

John Broome lasted just four months as principal of La Follette High School.

Under pressure due to escalating fighting at the 1,710-student east side school and hearing far-reaching complaints from parents and staff over his management style, Broome resigned in December 2006. Veteran district administrator Loren Rathert came out of retirement to finish the school year as interim principal.

So when Joe Gothard took over as principal last September, it was no secret that he was entering a difficult situation.

"Actually it was really bad," says Jamison Vacek, a member of a Lancer senior class that has had four principals in four years. "There were fights almost every day at the school when we had those other principals."

But ask students, staff and observers about La Follette now, and there seems a consensus that Gothard has helped put the school on the right path.

That might seem surprising considering he is only 36, but his imposing 6-foot-6 size and athletic build give him an air of command.

Even more than that, though, Gothard has deep roots in the community and the school -- he graduated from La Follette in 1989 -- that gave him the ability to connect quickly with staff and students.

"Mr. Gothard is easier to get along with and straightforward about everything, and people respect him and there's not as many problems in school," La Follette senior Delores Green says.

Still, Gothard has been sorely tested by the same problems that bedeviled Broome.

On Oct. 11, prosecutors say, two adult women came to the school on Pflaum Road to settle a score with a 15-year-old boy who had fought with one of their children the week before. With that son and another student in tow, the women confronted the 15-year-old in a hallway and encouraged the two other boys to hit him, the criminal complaint says. By the time it was over, some 30 staff members and seven police officers had been called in to stop the sprawling fight. A security guard was "stomped on" and an assistant principal was struck in the face. The two women are scheduled to be sentenced on related charges later this month.

Gothard says he made some changes after the melee that have helped, including having staff members patrol the hallways and parking lot more often with walkie-talkies, often in pairs.

Additional staff has made a difference, too.

In December, the Madison School Board approved money for more security personnel, and Gothard says having a staff member who specifically deals with problem students has been critical.

"It feels like there is an edge off," Gothard says of the improving atmosphere. "I think it's important for us to always know we're a minute away from a crisis happening at any time. But now we're adequately staffed to deal with that."

Among others, Vacek says Gothard has handled the problem with fighting "pretty well and has brought it down to (where you) barely ever see fights now at our school." The Madison School District's security coordinator, Luis Yudice, gives a similar review.

"My sense is that the school has made tremendous progress under Joe's leadership," Yudice says. "I see him as a person that not only brings positive energy to the school, but also great quality as a leader."

Groomed to be an educator

Gothard's assignment to La Follette in September was a homecoming of sorts.

Aside from graduating from the school, where he was a football standout, Gothard was also a biology teacher and the football coach there for many years before leaving to become principal of Toki Middle School in 2005.

One of six siblings who was raised in a single-parent home for part of his childhood, Gothard was groomed as an educator by people who made a point of being there for him.

Besides his late mother, Judy Gothard, and former La Follette Principal Mike Meissen, who is now a superintendent in Glenbard, Ill., Gothard received constant support from Lois Bell, his teacher from sixth through eighth grades at Sennett Middle School.

Gothard admits he lacked focus and motivation while he was in school. He said concentrating on athletics filled gaps during his childhood, particularly since his father didn't play an active role in his life. Gothard's parents divorced when he was in third grade and his father died his senior year in high school, so he relied on the constant support of his mother and siblings.

Gothard, who earned All-City football honors at offensive tackle during his senior season in 1989, went on to play football for two years at UW-La Crosse. His competitive career ended after he sustained a knee injury. He dropped out of school, returned to Madison and picked up construction jobs.

Dropping out of college, however, did not sit well with Bell and Meissen, who persuaded Gothard that working with children was his true calling.

Gothard volunteered for various youth organizations, coached football and basketball at the YMCA, and wound up working as an education assistant at Lincoln Elementary School on Madison's south side. He then went on to earn his bachelor's degree at Edgewood College in 1998 and a master's degree in educational administration from Edgewood in 2004.

Devotion to school paying off

Ask students at La Follette what they think of Gothard, and a handful will say he is a disciplinarian. It speaks to the level of unease at the school that they consider that a compliment.

Some of that perception no doubt comes from his physical presence. He towers over most students in the hallways during passing periods, and he agrees that his size "gives me an initial, 'Wow, I'm not going to mess with him.'" But he adds that his real goal is "to become something deeper, something that the students know that I care and that I'm not here for me and for my job, that I'm here for them. I'm here to make their lives better, and the same with teachers, too."

English teacher Beth Steffen says Gothard's devotion to the school is paying off.

"I think there is a commitment on the part of the administrative team now and I know Joe embodies it, and he's got people really caring," says Steffen, who has taught at the school for seven years. "They want the kids to succeed, they want the kids to know that they will have these kids' backs in a way that I don't think is true at every school I've worked at or seen."

Former La Follette Principal Meissen says Gothard learned through his own life the value of education.

"I think he's had some real-life experiences where he recognizes that education is kind of the road toward achieving goals and success," says Meissen, who grew up on Woodvale Drive, the same east side block where the Gothard family lived. "I think he has a sensitivity to the real range of needs of all kids."

Tamira Madsen  —  5/07/2008 5:09 am