|
Superintendent Mike Moriarty closes this chapter of his career
|
|
|
By Charlie Warner
Argus News Editor
After serving as superintendent of schools for School District #299 since 2004, Mike Moriarty will be retiring from that position at the end of the month.
Moriarty, who grew up on a farm between Caledonia and Brownsville, spent most of his life living in Houston County and much of it working in the education field.
He was a 1967 graduate of Loretto High School in Caledonia, did his undergraduate studies (English and social studies) at Viterbo University in La Crosse and his graduate studies at Winona State University.
Moriarty “saw the world” during a four-year stint in the U.S. Navy. He was assigned to an aircraft carrier, and spent the majority of his four years in the Caribbean and the Mediterranean Sea.
“I had the opportunity to visit a lot of countries during my stint in the Navy,” Moriarity said. “It was a good experience for me.”
St. Mary’s Catholic School in Caledonia was Moriarty’s first teaching stop, where he was an English teacher. He also taught English and social studies at Rushford-Peterson before becoming a principal in the R-P district.
From there Moriarty was hired as the superintendent at Mabel-Canton Public Schools, which he served for a number of years before accepting a similar position here in Caledonia.
He, his wife and three children (who are now adults living in the St. Paul area) have made their home in Brownsville for more than 30 years.
When asked about the commute from Brownsville to Peterson and later to Mabel, Moriarty smiled and said that being a farm boy, he always enjoyed driving through the countryside looking at the crops and landscape.
“I never really minded the commute. When I worked in Peterson, I drove the Hokah and was in a river valley (the Root River) the rest of the trip. If the weather was bad, school was called off anyway. And the drive to Mabel was always enjoyable as well. There’s always something to look at when you’re driving through farmland.
“I usually was at work by 7 a.m., so I never ran into any rush hour traffic. Beside, I was always driving the opposite direction from the commuters both in the morning and in the afternoons,” he added.
During his tenure in education, Moriarty has seen numerous changes in teaching techniques and the way materials are delivered. “Profiles in Education” was utilized for a number of years, while “No Child Left Behind” is the current discipline.
“The emphasis has changed, but for a subject like English, it’s still English…grammer is still grammer. And with literature, it doesn’t make any difference what approach you’re taking, you’re still reading and studying the classics.”
When it comes to the students, he really hasn’t seen much of a change over the years. “Kids are kids. The vast majority want to learn and prepare for the next level of their lives. Most have a strong desire to learn and succeed.
“The delivery of education has changed,” Moriarty continued. “Our ever-changing technology is what makes education different today than years ago. We used to give them a book. Now they obtain a great deal of their knowledge through computers.”
Funding shortfalls and declining enrollments are two issues that have made Moriarty’s position in Caledonia challenging. When he started in 2004 the public school district had 940 students. The district currently has approximately 750 students attending public schools.
“A more than 180-student decline in five years is significant. It’s leveled off somewhat, but we’re still losing about 25 students a year,” he pointed out.
Even through the state has increased per pupil aid since 2004, the Caledonia district is receiving less state aid now than it did five years ago, due to declining enrollment.
The hardest aspect of dealing with declining enrollment is when staff must be reduced. Informing staff that their hours have been cut, or that their position has been cut completely, is the toughest thing Moriarty has been asked to do.
The students, their successes and the strong support from the community are some of the most positive aspects of the position, according to Moriarty.
“This district takes great pride in its schools and the outstanding buildings are a big plus,” he added.
Moriarty, who has served as clerk of the City of Brownsville for the past 23 years, plans to continue with that part-time vocation. There might be some other “things” on the back burner, but for now, Moriarty said his passion for “keeping the little city running,” doing some relaxing and spending more time with his wife and adult children are what he’s looking forward to.
You can contact Charlie Warner at
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
|
