Drews Excited to Serve as Arapahoe Superintendent
ARAPAHOE –Since graduating from Nebraska Wesleyan in 1991, Bob Drews has over three decades of classroom and administration experience under his belt. After serving several years as a principal, Drews is excited to serve the district as Superintendent.
Drews began his career in Rising City, teaching History, Government, Math, and P.E. over the course of three years before moving on to Seward where he spent nine years in middle and high school, teaching American History and Psychology.
In 2002, Drews spent a year at Valley Jr and Sr High School (now Douglas County West) as an Assistant Principal and Activities Director. Next, he moved to Gordon to serve as high school principal. A year later the school consolidated with Rushville, and he stayed three more years in that district, eventually as school principal. For the past 16 years, Drews served as principal in the Holdrege School District.
The new superintendent holds two master’s degrees: Educational Administration with a Principal Endorsement from UN-Lincoln and a Specialist in Education Administration with a Superintendent Endorsement from UN-Kearney. According to Drews, educa
According to Drews, education has changed a lot over the past three decades.
“There’s a lot more busywork and rules to follow,” he said. “I like to think that all educators like to help and be around kids and it is frustrating when increased paperwork pulls teachers out of the classroom.”
He also says that the expectations for schools has gone up exponentially.
“Schools are involved in a lot more parenting than was the case even ten years ago,” he said.
Drews points out that public schools do a lot more than reading and writing because there are bigger social and emotional needs.
“In the past, skills like handling conflicts were more likely taught at home. I believe that school can be a place where students can gain skills to leave the system ready to live in the world,” he emphasized.
Drews has known his wife, Christy, who will work as a para this year, most of his life. She was five and he was seven when they met in Henderson. Her grandparents lived two doors down from him and Christy played with his sisters when her family visited from Chicago. Eventually Christy’s family relocated to Henderson to take over the family farm.
The couple began dating in high school and married right after college. They are parents to 22-year- old twins. Their daughter is working on an undergrad degree in theater and their son is studying criminal justice at Southeast Community College.
He says that he and Christy already feel at home in Arapahoe.
“It’s great to be in a community similar to what we grew up in and being able to connect with people and know them.”
There were 28 in Drews’s high school graduating class in 1986. His dad served as the school’s band director before starting a meat packing business. His mother worked both as a nurse and sometimes full-time stay-at-home mom. Although his parents moved away for some time, they now make Henderson their full-time home.
When asked about his concern regarding school safety, Drews replied that safety is a challenge for people in management everywhere.
“We take precautions and do due diligence and plan the best we can. But we cannot worry about bad things happening. It’s important to build relationships, stay positive, and be cautious.”
He continued, “We are in a better place in in rural areas because we are able to recognize problems and offer help to people.”
In terms of challenges, the longtime principal says that he is going to be careful not to step on toes and allow his two colleagues to take care of principal issues while he focuses more on superintendent duties.
“I’ve only worked with bits and pieces of the overall budget so although it’s daunting, I’m looking forward to managing the district budget,” he said.
It’s clear that Drews is excited about being vested in the school and community. He’s looking forward to the change of pace because smaller school districts allow administrators to get to know the people.
“I am going to be able to walk into an elementary classroom without going into another building and have fun with high school kids.”
Drews says he is pleased with the interactions he’s had with everyone in the school system and community. “There’s a sense that people here want to make the community better. That’s part of the Nebraska mentality that people are ready to do their part,” the Cornhusker state native pointed out.
