2013 Choice Employers, Community Involvement Champion: Stephen Kleinsmith

Though service to the Nixa-area community has become commonplace for Stephen Kleinsmith, he takes his commitment to service seriously.

Since taking the reins of the Nixa Public School District as superintendent in 2000, the career education executive has made a point of spending time each day serving as a steward for the community.

“As superintendent, my philosophy is to get involved,” he says.

Kleinsmith assigns his staff members community objectives and has encouraged board members to demonstrate a vested interest in the community, leading to representation in more than 23 organizations.

Kleinsmith himself serves a handful of organizations, often in officer or board positions, including current board membership for food pantry Least Of These Inc. and the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce. He also is a past chairman of the board for the Greater Ozarks Chapter of the American Red Cross serving 27 counties in southwest Missouri; past chairman and board member of the Nixa Community Foundation; and past chairman of the Nixa Area Chamber of Commerce.

Displayed in Nixa Public Schools’ central office corridor is the statement, “How can we be of service to you?” – which Kleinsmith says illustrates the school system’s community-centric attitude.

“My expectations of myself and my role as a community leader exemplifies my genuinely felt responsibility to work hard to help my community thrive economically, have excellent schools, great parks and recreation, superior services and, ultimately, be a community where people want to live and raise their families,” Kleinsmith says. “While being involved with the community is part of my job duties, I am deeply committed to the belief that we all have a responsibility to give back to our communities.”

The superintendent leads Christian County’s largest employer, with nearly 700 workers and more than 6,000 students. The R-2 district also provides financial support to Least Of These; Care to Learn Nixa; the Eagles’ Nest, Nixa PTA’s clothing bank; Red Cross; Convoy of Hope; and the Nixa Education Foundation.

He says the school district’s work passes on a valuable, results-oriented lesson to students, the district’s No. 1 priority.

“I know their future greatly depends on the experiences and the education they receive while growing up. A community that works together through community service not only gives a student a great opportunity for success in the future as a productive adult, but also provides a great example of stewardship for them to follow when they grow up,” Kleinsmith says. “I do not take lightly the influence my colleagues and I have over the young lives we educate each day.”[[In-content Ad]]