With more than 40-years on the Sisseton School Board and more than 20-years as part of the ASBSD Board of Directors, LeRoy Hellwig was deservedly acknowledged for his service to public education.

 

Hellwig was presented a plaque by the ASBSD Board of Directors at their August meeting in Sioux Falls.

 

“In 44-years you can make a pretty big impact,” ASBSD Past President Denise Lutkemeier said, “and that’s what LeRoy has done.”

 

 

Elected to the Sisseton School Board in 1971, Hellwig has been integrally involved in K-12 education at the local, state and national level.

 

Hellwig served 10-years on the Executive Committee of the ASBSD Board of Directors, including two terms as ASBSD President. He also served on the National School Board Association’s Policy and Resolutions Committee.

 

“You challenged all of our thinking,” Susan Humiston, who spent a number of years on the ASBSD Board with Hellwig, said, “and changed your think along the way.”

 

To which, LeRoy jokingly remarked, “I changed my mind a few times because (Susan) told me to.”

 

“The work you’ve done has just been phenomenal,” Humiston said.

 

Conservative by nature, Hellwig, who was also awarded ASBSD’s School Bell Award during Convention, worked hard to assure tax dollars were maximized in schools, but was unafraid to take risks when it came to planning for a future education that was best for students and schools.

 

“I leave here with work left to be done, but I think we’ve done a lot of good things,” Hellwig told the board. “I leave here with a lot of good memories.”

 

Before he waved goodbye to the Board of Directors, Lutkemeier shared a special thank you with Hellwig, “Thanks for being our teacher, LeRoy.”

 

“I hope I was a good one,” Hellwig responded.

 

Indeed, he was.