Providing Community Service Through Occupation - Essay Example

The community itself is in a rural area, about two hours away from any larger city. The majority of the occupations in the vicinity are either farming related. Many people are also teachers and nurses but the majority of the community has to commute an average of 20 minutes to their job each way. The community is primarily rural to middle class citizens. The community also consists of a gas station, an electrician's office, a meat locker, a post office, a restaurant, a gift shop, some storage units and one convenience store (K.

Dudley, personal communication, November 3, 2011. Introduction to Interviewee Kenneth Dudley is a school superintendent that is in charge of all of the operations of a small school that has students in kindergarten through twelfth grade with a total number of approximately 240 students enrolled. The town itself in which he provides his services as a school administrator has a population of 457 people. (K.Dudley, personal communication November 3, 2011). Prior to being an administrator in the school district, Dudley was an industrial arts (wood shop) teacher and also taught driver's education in the 1970s. (K. Dudley, personal communication, November 3, 2011). . Not only is Dudley a go-to person for teachers, parents and students in the community, he also has other tasks he must accomplish.

He is responsible for maintaining the annual fiscal budget for the entire district as well as approve finances for purchases. He manages personnel including teachers, faculty and staff. Dudley serves as a mentor to both students and teachers and provides academic leadership and performance. He works on ensuring that the school continues to be accredited and carries out school improvement projects as mandated by the state. Dudley also takes care of many of the disciplinary actions in the school district when it comes to student punishment for misbehavior and contacting the student's parents when they are in trouble.

He juggles transportation and bus scheduling for school activities along with often having to be present at many of the sports activities providing student supervision. He also is often a chaperone at various different school events such as team fundraisers and dances. For a period of time, he served as the special education director and often fills in as a substitute bus driver on regular morning and afternoon routes as well as to sports and school organization functions, acting not only as the driver but also the student supervisor.

Dudley also attends conferences and training seminars, is in charge of hiring along with the support of the district's board of education, attends the board of education meetings and conducts meetings, and was a member and also served as President of the Missouri Association of Rural Education. He himself has not won any awards, however, he has helped the school win several education awards and rewards of distinction. Now why would anyone want to take on that kind