Marengo Community High School superintendent retires

Adela Crandell Durkee
Dan Bertrand will retire from his position as superintendent at District 154, Marengo Community High School. (Photo by Adela Crandell Durkee/for Chronicle Media)

Dan Bertrand will retire from his position as superintendent at District 154, Marengo Community High School. (Photo by Adela Crandell Durkee/for Chronicle Media)

Fifty-five years ago, when Dan Bertrand started kindergarten, no one would have predicted that he would spend the rest of his life in education.

He was one of those kids who got so anxious about school, he got physically ill.

“I wanted to stay home,” said Bertrand. “I’d actually throw up at school and my mom had to come and get me.”

This spring, Bertrand will retire from his position as superintendent at District 154, Marengo Community High School. During his 11 years at Dist. 154, Bertrand saw many changes. What was once considered exemplary teaching techniques are now passé or worse, consider inappropriate.

“Parents and society have changed a lot over my career,” says Bertrand. “Students have more diverse backgrounds, and more diverse needs.”

Bertrand considers the Common Core curriculum a good shift because “it makes us think about education, not as the dissemination of information, but how to process and use information.”

The students learn how to analyze and synthesize information, rather than regurgitate facts. Bertrand understands this as an important skill-set for tomorrow’s workforce. At the same time, he recognizes it can be a difficult shift for both students and parents, who are accustomed to fact-based testing.

“We don’t want students to just know the information,” says Bertrand, “We want them to do something with the information.”

In 2015, Gov. Bruce Rauner recognized Bertrand as one of 26 school superintendents and principals as a school administrator of honor. Bertrand was the only administrator in McHenry County to garner the honor.

Marengo High School is one of the top 100 high schools in Illinois, a distinction that it maintains over the past four years. Under Bertrand’s tenure, the high school raised its average composite ACT score from 19.5 to 21.8.

Marengo High School was the first in the county to offer a laptop computer to each student. In addition, students maintain and repair the laptops as part of the technology coursework offered to them.

Today’s students use a lot fewer textbooks, according to Bertrand. The textbooks are primarily a classroom resource.

“You won’t see students lugging home an armful of books,” he said.

Assignments are given and collected electronically. Children and parents have apps on their computers or smart-phones that give them up-to-the-minute information about performance.

“We’ve never done a better job, than we do now, of teaching kids and offering them opportunities,” said Bertrand. “The quality of teaching is by far at its very best, whether for technology, career training, or extracurricular activities.”

Bertrand said that just like 75 percent of the population, a teacher influenced his career path.

For him, it was Larry Waterkoette, his biology teacher and coach. Bertrand began his career as a science teacher and taught every science class except physics. The first high school principal he worked with recognized his leadership potential and encouraged Bertrand to pursue a career in administration.

Bertrand and his wife, Kelly, and their 4 children, Brock (15,) Bailey (14,) Brooke (13,) and Beau (3,) made Marengo their home. Bertrand plans to stay connected to education, but “more as a spectator” as his children enter high school. He hopes kids take advantage of the opportunities they have in high school, and make wise career choices.

“I’m blessed to work with a great staff of teachers, administrators, and support staff,” said Bertrand.

He describes the responsibility he has as awesome.

“People of the community are trusting their children’s future to me. I want kids to be served well by their experience here. Students deserve to be treated at school by me as if they are my very own.”