Profile September 9, 1991 Issue

"A more inspired view of the children—and of the adults"

with contributions from Donald Ingwerson

The list of needs for many schools is long, and perhaps at the top is the need for a new vision. At least that is one lesson Donald Ingwerson has learned from his experience in education. He is superintendent of schools for a large public school district in Kentucky. In this interview he speaks about what prayer has done to give him a fresh vision of children and schools.

Tell us about your school district. It's the seventeenth largest public school district in the United States. It has had all of the concerns—from forced busing to teacher strikes and all the other urban challenges—that we read about in the newspaper and see on television. At one point, the community and school district were very much in disarray. It seemed to me that people had lost their vision. They were very negative about themselves and others in the community.

Through constant prayer, I was able to go calmly into a situation where there appeared to be many minds, many power structures, and many community networks in operation. I grew in my understanding of the needs of some of our population. They grew too. Out of our coming together and our dealing with each other came a networking, a confidence that this community had never had before.

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