Cap & Gown

'Man Of Courage And Heart'

Children's advocate steps down as school superintendent.

Judith Doner Berne

of the state's alternative high schools
— which generally serve students who
don't fit into a regular high school — will
be phased out because of those narrow
measures of success.
"Students leave those alternative schools
having learned responsibility and employ-
ability;' Faber says. "Some go on to two-
and four-year colleges." Without alterna-
tive high schools, "those kids would be out
on the street."
"He's a strong supporter of stu-
dents;' says Beth Borson, secretary
of the West Bloomfield school board.
"Superintendency used to be a fun job:'
she says, but financial and enrollment
declines have made it a struggle. "He's
really been a rock."

Special to the Jewish News

W

hen Gary Faber, Ed.D., retires
as superintendent of West
Bloomfield Schools in June,
he'll do so "to lead a balanced life'
"Superintendency is a way of life — not
a job," he says. After nearly 40 years in pub-
lic education, the timing "just was right."
Faber, 61, was named the district's
superintendent in 2002, following the
sudden death of Superintendent Seymour
Gretchko.
"I never really had a desire to be a
superintendent," Faber says of his early
years in education. "I thought I would be a
junior high school principal."
In fact, his most fulfilling job, he says,
was his 10-year stint as West Bloomfield
High School principal. That was when the
school was twice named both a "Michigan
Exemplary School" and a "National
Exemplary School:' And Faber was honored
as Michigan's 1992 Principal of the Year.
"Being around the kids — and having
both of my kids going through the high
school — was a very fulfilling time in my
life."
Faber was principal when West
Bloomfield Board of Education Trustee
David Einstandig attended the high
school. "He used to tell me to get to class:'
Einstandig recalls. "In high school, you
had the impression he knew every child.
He cared and he does care."
As he prepares to leave, Faber says he
is proud of the accomplishments of West
Bloomfield students, teachers and schools,
despite the financial hurdles created by
Michigan's lackluster economy.
For the last three years, he has been
Lansing representative for the 86 school
superintendents in the tri-county area. "I've
enjoyed it, but it's like running a race in the
mud. We're simply crippled in this state by
partisanship heightened by term limits.
"People don't listen; they don't know
how to get through healthy legislation.
We're broken in Lansing."
No question, Faber says, that his succes-
sor Dr. JoAnn Andrees, whom he originally
hired as a high school counselor, assistant
principal and high school principal, inher-
its a tough job.
"There's no doubt she will do whatever
it takes," he says."She's the perfect selec-
tion. She has a history, is a forward-think-

Superintendent Gary Faber believes in teaching children "one by one."

er and is strong enough to stand against
the wind — and she will feel that wind if
the finances of the state don't change'

up for principle. That's how he lives his
personal life and his professional life'

Task Of Teachers
A Tough Road
Faber says teachers are better prepared
Faber also stood up to the wind, or as he
today than ever before. When he started
puts it, "the elephant in the room:' When
teaching in 1969, he says, the lesson was
finances and a declining school popula-
for the entire class and it was up to the
tion threatened to dismantle the district's
student to find a way to learn it. "If a
programs, Faber pushed to keep admitting school sent a reasonable number of stu-
students from outside the district under
dents on to higher education, it was an
the Schools of Choice program. He had
accomplishment."
and still has opposi-
These days, expec-
tion.
tations are higher.
" Being
"Do you cut the
"As I greet every new
kishkas [guts] out of
class of teachers, I tell
your school district?" —
them, 'When some-
he asks. "No. You offer
one asks what you do
all that you can for
you don't say that you
kids to thrive."
teach fourth grade or
"Gary has been
social studies. You tell
a tireless advocate
them, I teach chil-
for every child;'
dren one by one.
says school board
"Today's educa-
President Bruce
tion doesn't allow for
Tobin, "and is leaving
anything else Faber
the district in excel-
— Gary Faber says. "A teacher has
lent condition.
to assess how each
"We have a very
child gets the lesson.
tough crowd that we work for:' Tobin says. We are held more accountable than ever
"He has been just a tremendous leader. He before by federal laws and parent expecta-
has led not just our district but the entire
lions."
Oakland County superintendent commu-
The "No Child Left Behind" concept is
nity."
positive, but the measures of success are
"A lot of us look up to Gary for his lead- really stifling, Faber says. "The specifics
ership," echoes Bloomfield Hills School
are off base. There ought to be multiple
District Supt. Steven Gaynor. "I think Gary measures of the success of a school."
is a man of courage and heart who stands
He is, for instance, worried that most

around the kids
and having both of
my kids going through
the high school — was
a very fulfilling time in
my life."

Future And Past
Faber has plans to do educational consult-
ing, play with his grandchildren, not have
an alarm clock and "improve a horrible
golf game."
He'll join the Michigan Leadership
Institute, a statewide educational consult-
ing firm that, among other things, helps
school districts hire new superintendents.
And "the Jewish Federation (of
Metropolitan Detroit) has contacted me to
help evaluate Jewish day schools:' he says.
Faber grew up in northwest Detroit,
graduating from Henry Ford High School
and earning multiple degrees from Wayne
State University. (See related story)
But as a newly minted teacher at
Holmes Junior High in Livonia, his idea
was to earn enough to attend law school
at night.
The children he taught turned him away
from law and toward education. He was
captivated by their spontaneity, he says.
"It was fun and fulfilling to observe them
grow in so many ways."
Among the "tons of letters" he received
when his retirement was announced
were from members of that first eighth-
grade class, which included Orchard Lake
Middle School gym teacher Nancy Gavoor.
"Dr. Faber was such an exciting, inven-
tive teacher;' Gavoor says. "He challenged
our norms. We never knew how the chairs
were going to be arranged. Every day it
was different. He wanted to challenge the
way we structured ourselves.
"There was no doubt in my mind after
being in Dr. Faber's class that I wanted to
be a teacher:' Gavoor says.

Man Of Courage on page

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May 22 . 2008

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