Don Whitaker and Carl Bowman discuss the ultimate question: is it better to be a Buckeye or a Boilermaker?

By JOYELL NEVINS

Record Herald Editor

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BETHEL TOWNSHIP – Can a Buckeye and a Boilermaker get along? In the case of former Bethel Board of Education members Carl Bowman and Don Whitaker, the answer was a surprising yes.

“For 18 years he and I have gone back and forth,” said Whitaker, grinning, “It’s always good-natured kidding, though.”

Like the few games where Purdue would beat Ohio State, Whitaker would just have to wear his Purdue sweater to the board meeting that week. He and Bowman even crossed the state line once to see the two schools play each other, although it was too traumatic of an event to repeat again, they tell tongue-in-cheek.

Two decades of experience

Bowman and Whitaker retired this December after a collective 42 years of experience on the board.

Whitaker grew up in Indiana, but followed his wife’s family to Ohio in the late ‘80s. They chose to live in Bethel Township so their son could attend school at Bethel. Although he had experience as a teacher and administrator, Whitaker didn’t join the board until 1994, after his youngest son had already graduated.

“I could look from a non-biased standpoint,” Whitaker said.

Bowman had already been on the board for a term before Whitaker started. Bowman was actually appointed rather than elected, due to two board members quitting mid-term. His two boys were in elementary school at the time, and he had seen his father serve on the Board of Education as well.

“I always had an appreciation for what goes on with Dad being on a board,” he said.

Bowman has also learned to appreciate Whitaker, despite his Indiana roots.

“What I’ve been so impressed with is how he befriends and encourages the kids all the way through,” Bowman said of Whitaker, “He’s amazing. He really is.”

Bowman called Whitaker a “good role model” and a great example of what service means. In addition to the board, Whitaker has been a Camp Kern chaperone several times, where he slept on a hard bunk bed right next to the fifth graders (one of which was Bowman’s son). Whitaker also works with Overtime, a youth-oriented ministry of West Charleston Church of the Brethren. Overtime is like an after-prom party for certain home basketball games – students can go to the other gym to play games, eat and hang out in a healthy environment.

“I think it’s important to help kids every way you can,” said Whitaker.

While Whitaker is involved with the kids on the inside, he pointed out that Bowman takes care of much of the outside work. Bowman helped put in the soccer field, and works with the drainage system and mowing the fields.

“To me, Carl’s been a great contributor to Bethel schools,” said Whitaker.

The men are also impressed by the willingness of Bethel parents to get involved, even after many of their kids have graduated. “They want to make sure their neighbor’s kids have a great experience,” said Whitaker.

Bethel students also get the benefit of a great staff and faculty, according to the retired board members.

“The staff put their heart and soul into it – it’s amazing what they’re able to accomplish,” said Whitaker.

Working with the board

Over the decades, the two men have seen many board members come and go. While they acknowledge that not everyone joins for the right reasons, Bowman and Whitaker feel that most of the board have had the community at heart.

“In Bethel, the school is the community,” said Whitaker.

Bowman agreed, “A strong school makes a strong community – you can’t have one without the other.”

They pointed out that any personal agendas are soon swept aside.

“People would quickly see you can’t have a narrow spectrum view,” said Bowman, “You only have one vote, so it has to be a corporate decision. The focus has to be on all kids, not on one kid.”

Whitaker feels that having a wider view is one of Bowman’s strengths.

“Carl can see the big picture, where something is not as big an issue as some of us think,” Whitaker said, “That’s a rare attribute, and he excels at that.”

One of the issues they had to deal with that was a big problem was back in the early ‘90s, when Benzene was found in a neighboring well. Before either of them were on the board, there had been a gas spill. The gas had gotten into the well, and the water started to smell.

“It was a tough time to figure out because none of us had dealt with it before,” said Bowman.

The school hauled in water to the residents across the street, and put in monitoring systems to keep an eye on their own water supply. Although no Benzene was ever found in Bethel’s well and they now get their water from the county, the monitors are still in place and checked regularly. The whole process cost the school almost $800,000.

“It was a whale of a problem,” said Bowman.

Another whale of a problem has been dealing with the nationwide economic recession. State funds have continued to dry up, regardless of Bethel’s performance.

“None of us have created this situation – the whole state, the United States, the world is in a tough financial spot,” said Whitaker.

The financial crisis is an ongoing situation, so there’s not much Bowman and Whitaker could have done to fix it before they left. They do regret, however, not being able to build a new school for the kids.

“The biggest disappointment is we were not able to get new facilities,” said Bowman, “We couldn’t convince voters. People didn’t see the need.”

He relates the current building to having a home built in 1920.

“What worked great in 1920 doesn’t work as great in 2010,” he said, “The maintenance starts eating you alive.”

Working with the kids

The men have also seen the entrance of the technological age – but they say the kids themselves haven’t changed.

“Kids are kids, education is education,” said Bowman, “You just have to change the modality.”

Whitaker detailed, “Basically they all want to be known. If you meet them, respect them, if they know you care about them, they’ll respond to that.”

While kids may not change, sometimes a board needs to. Bowman and Whitaker are retiring partly because they think its important to have fresh blood and new ideas.

“You need new people, new ideas, new inputs,” said Whitaker.

“The present board members are strong, and the new members are willing,” added Bowman, “I hope they can care about the Bethel kids and do their utmost to help keep it strong.”

Although he’s retiring from Bethel, Bowman won’t completely leave the school board environment. He is now on the board for the Miami County Educational Service Center, which provides special education to a consortium of schools.

The new Bethel Board of Education members are Scott Lawson and Michael van Haaren.