New Timnath school honors educator Paul Bethke

By Dan MacArthur
Fossil Creek Current

Timnath's new elementary school will be named after a local educational icon, staunch school consolidation advocate, and driving force behind Colorado's first modern school finance and budget acts.

The Poudre School District Board of Education on Dec. 11 adopted a naming committee's recommendation to honor the late Paul G. Bethke, a longtime teacher and superintendent in the Timnath and LaPorte areas.

"His vocation was his avocation, too," said daughter Bonnie Stegner of LaPorte. "He was such a believer in universal education."

Bethke's profound influence on local and statewide education spanned a half-century. Determined as a young man to become a teacher, he worked his way through the Colorado State Teacher's College (now the University of Northern Colorado) during the Depression to earn a teaching degree, according to information provided by his family.

While teaching in a small county school south of Windsor, he married Helen Lind. They moved to a teacherage at Harmony, south of Fort Collins, where he was a combined administrator, teacher, coach, janitor and bus driver. He went on to Johnstown as a math teacher and coach. Bethke then became superintendent at Timnath from 1947 to 1956, where he also continued to teach and coach.

Stegner said her father's years at Timnath were particularly close to his heart. While there he oversaw construction of a new school that remains in use. She said he often worked after school hours tutoring children of migrant workers so they could complete high school. Once at the graduation of two sons from a migrant family, Stegner recalled, the boys' mother rushed up to kiss her father's hand and thank him for what he simply considered his duty.

When he moved to LaPorte to serve as superintendent from 1956 to 1959, there were 33 rural school districts within Larimer County and hundreds across the state. Returning to UNC to earn a master's degree, Bethke wrote a thesis outlining his plan for reorganizing Larimer County schools. He believed that consolidation would give all children the same access to a quality, contemporary education that smaller districts couldn't afford to provide.

Bethke continued to advocate for consolidation despite fierce opposition from those determined to maintain the local schools often serving as the center of the community. That reorganization was realized across Colorado in 1960 and all the county school districts were consolidated into the current three - Poudre, Thompson Valley and Estes Park.

"Dad was always a peacemaker. His best line was there has to be a better way," Stegner recalled. "He really felt that consolidation was the equitable way to make education available to children."

But those weren't particularly peaceful times with emotions running high, according to Stegner. She said her father was burned in effigy at the high school, their windows were shot out and their car vandalized. Rather than facing firing, Stegner said, her father resigned the day following the election that shifted the balance on the school board. "That was extremely painful to him," she said.

He next became chief budget officer for the Colorado Department of Education from 1959 to 1972. In that capacity he continued to work toward consolidation, assisted school districts with financial difficulties, and was instrumental in drafting Colorado's first modern public school budget and finance acts. During his tenure there, Bethke earned a doctorate in education from the University of Denver.

From 1972 to 1985, he was research director for the Colorado Education Association. In addition to teaching public school finance and budgeting at several institutions, including UNC, he worked to secure better salaries and working conditions for teachers. Stegner said his work at the CEA until retiring at 74 was the pinnacle of her father's career. "He always tried to talk talented people into teaching," she said.

Bethke was nominated for the honor by his five children. All taught in some capacity and now are accomplished in their professional fields. Paul Bethke died in 1993, and his wife, Helen, followed in 1995.

"His outlook was incredibly optimistic about what students could accomplish," Bethke's children wrote in their nomination "He was devoted in mind and heart to the improvement and well being of both students and teachers. He loved his work and never lost sight of its ultimate purpose: a better-educated and open-minded society, which he knew was essential to our democracy. He instilled a love of learning in all who came to know him."

"Paul was a rare individual who blended intelligence, honesty and compassion with his complete devotion to the public schools," wrote fellow nominator Bruce Dickinson, executive director of the Denver Classroom Teachers Association. "When you spoke to Paul you knew you were getting the truth, even if it might be unpleasant to hear. He was a humble, genuine human being and certainly worthy of this honor."

Street naming

In addition, the committee recommended that PSD work with the town of Timnath to name streets near the school in honor of the other two top nominees --the Fisher family and Marietta Rudolph.

The Fisher family has strong ties to the area as active leaders in local education and the community. The new school is built on the farm purchased by John Fisher in 1902 and operated by the Fisher family for more than 100 years. Three family members were teachers and two were elected to the Timnath Consolidated School District board. Their connections to education span from 1902 to 1967 with a combined 33 years of service to local schools.

Rudolph taught school from 1953 to 1959 in Washington and Dunn schools in Fort Collins, taught homebound students for a year, and then taught from 1968 through 1992 in Wellington and Timnath elementary schools.

She has been active in the Timnath community since 1953, volunteering to teach summer school, and serving on school, community and church committees. She continues to be active in retirement as a school volunteer and substitute teacher.

Bethke principal

Ann Alfonso, principal at O'Dea Elementary, has been selected as the principal for the new Timnath-area Bethke Elementary School. Alfonso assumes her new position this month and will begin the planning associated with opening a new school.

Alfonso is now serving her fifth year as a principal. She also served two years as an assistant principal and taught for 10 years. She graduated with honors from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Clair with an undergraduate degree in elementary education. She also earned a master's degree in educational leadership from Northern Arizona University.

Former principal and teacher Sue Reid will serve as interim principal at O'Dea Core Knowledge for the rest of the school year. She retired in 2004 after serving 13 years as principal at Bennett IB World School. Prior to that she taught second grade at O'Dea for several years before accepting a position as principal at Pierce Elementary School in Weld County.

In the spring, PSD will work with O'Dea staff and parents to hire a permanent principal for O'Dea.

Upcoming events associated with Bethke's fall opening follow:

• Parent night and principal listening session Jan. 15 at 6:30 p.m. in the Timnath Elementary Media Center.
• Kindergarten orientation Jan. 24 at 6:30 p.m. in the Timnath Elementary Media Center.
• Kindergarten registration Feb. 7 from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Timnath Elementary School