Tom Budnik's first word was dzieci, which means "children" in Polish. When asked if this was prophetic of his life's work, ASCD's new President concedes, "Maybe it was."
In fact, children, education, and Budnik's Polish-American heritage have played central roles in his life. Budnik's parents emigrated from Poland as children to escape the Bolshevik revolution, and he grew up in a Polish-American section of Chicago, Ill. For the first nine years of his formal education, he attended a Catholic parochial school where classes were taught in both English and Polish. Budnik still speaks Polish, as he demonstrated during a General Session at ASCD's 1998 Annual Conference when he greeted the audience in that language.
Budnik and his "bride and best friend" of 38 years, Terri (who is of Irish-American descent), instilled the importance of honoring one's heritage in their children as they grew up.
One way they did so was through cooking, which is one of Budnik's hobbies. "One of my favorite dishes to make is oxtail soup, but I also like to make Polish pastries, including a chocolate torte called mazurek, which I make at Easter and Christmas," he says.
Budnik's other hobbies include dancing, fishing, and singing. He and his wife have tried every kind of dancing and recently took country line dancing lessons. As a singer, Budnik has performed in choirs, at weddings, and with a folk trio in Chicago coffeehouses. His compact disc collection includes all types of music, but Budnik admits that he doesn't care for heavy metal. "I'm still learning to live with the fact that one of my sons-in-law is a fan of the rock group Kiss," he reveals.
Budnik first developed an interest in teaching when he attended Lane Technical High School, a public all-boys school. As a junior, he joined the Future Teachers of America club. His mother encouraged him to pursue this interest. "Although she had only an 8th-grade education, she saw education as a way out of a life of blue collar jobs. She considered teaching an honorable profession," he says.
Budnik's older sister, Mildred, also became a teacher. And although his son, Tim, is an account representative for a printing firm in North Carolina, Budnik's daughters have followed in their father's professional footsteps: Nancy and Christine teach kindergarten, and Julie is a special education teacher.
In addition to support from his family, Budnik says he was fortunate to have several "very human" teachers during high school, who instilled a belief in him that he could "work with young children and have a positive impact on their lives."
After earning a teaching degree from the Chicago Teachers College, Budnik taught 6th grade for one year before moving on to teach junior high science and math. After teaching junior high for eight years, Budnik earned an M.A.T. in junior high school general science from Michigan State University.
After teaching for another year, Budnik moved to Iowa to earn a doctorate in curriculum and instruction at Iowa State University and then began working at the Heartland Area Education Agency (HAEA), where he has been ever since. HAEA is the largest of Iowa's regional service agencies, providing services in special education, media and technology, staff development, and school improvement planning and evaluation to 119,000 students and administrators. "I've got the best of all worlds here at Heartland," says Budnik. He has worked with students through contests such as Physics Olympics, and helps classroom teachers find ways to help students.
But his favorite aspect of his job is working with community groups. "Much of this is evening work," Budnik says, "and it gives me the chance to help community groups achieve consensus on what they want to happen in their schools."
An ASCD Leader
Budnik joined ASCD in the early 1970s and immediately became involved in Iowa ASCD. He served as president of the affiliate from 1983 to 1984, and as executive director from 1985 to 1995.
A strong champion of ASCD's affiliates, Budnik says that "affiliates are the lifeblood of ASCD, providing dedicated professionals for a wide array of leadership and advisory positions." Compared to ASCD International, affiliates offer a smaller structure that allows people to get to know one another better and to address regional concerns, he notes.
Budnik has also served on ASCD's Board of Directors, the Executive Council, the Constituent Relations Committee, the Governance Evaluation Commission, and the Commission on Internationalization. He decided to run for President because "this organization means a lot to me. I hope to give back a little of what I've gotten and to have an impact on the way it is growing."
Budnik wants to make sure that ASCD takes advantage of the commitment it has from many of its members. One area he hopes to focus on is ASCD's student chapter program for undergraduate and graduate students of education. "ASCD's membership, like me, is aging. Many people will be retiring in the next five to seven years. We need to make an effort to get young educators involved," he urges.
"I am also getting very concerned about what's occurring in schools with the lack of respect that children have for themselves and for others," Budnik says. "We hear from administrators that we must work on this before anything else can take place in the classroom." Other education issues he considers important are the pressure to be accountable to the public for what happens in public schools, the push for standards and benchmarks at the state and local levels, and the need to integrate technology into schools.
Budnik looks forward to his presidency and to the future of ASCD. Unlike other professional education organizations, he says, "ASCD focuses on the issues," rather than just on the personal and professional welfare of its members.
During ASCD's 1998 Annual Conference, Budnik met hundreds of educators. He recalls three educators from Argentina in particular. "They thanked ASCD for providing a steady stream of high-quality materials they can use to enhance and support their schools," Budnik says. "Helping our members help young people is what ASCD is all about."