 | Joe Thimm, Central Division
 | | Joe Thimm, principal at Taylors Falls Elementary, Chisago Lakes Schools |
In his principalship, Thimm follows
the philosophy:
“People don’t care what you know until they know that you care.” Whether it is the staff, the students,
or the parents, he wants all the people he serves to know that he is there to
help. Chisago Lakes colleague Warren
Retzlaff, principal at Lakeside Elementary School, said that Thimm has been an
inspiration to everyone he has worked with ever since he came to the district
some 30 years ago.
Among his most significant career
accomplishments, Thimm includes:
- Helping establish girls hockey, boys soccer and girls soccer
as varsity sports while Activities Director for Chisago Lakes Area
Schools. He also helped plan and
oversee the building of a new Activities wing for the district, including a new
gymnasium and performing arts center.
- Helping plan and promote the addition of the new education
wing at Taylors Falls Elementary School, completed in the fall of 2008.
- Serving on the team that redesigned how Taylors Falls
Elementary provides reading interventions for tier two students, using reading
teachers and academic paraprofessionals.
Their work also established a math lab to provide intervention support
for students above and beyond their regular math instruction.
Within the MESPA Central Division,
Thimm has held the leadership position of membership chair from 2007 to the
present, diligently contacting and talking to potential new members,
encouraging his colleagues to become active in their professional
association. Past honors and
recognition received by Thimm include: Taylors Falls School Teacher of the Year
in 1987 and the Leadership in Educational Excellence Award in 2004.
Joseph Thimm was
recommended by Warren Retzlaff and nominated by his Central division
colleagues.
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