April 20, 2018 – Rick Strack has a need to serve his community.
He did it as both a police officer for over 25 years in Raytown, and in service to his country, in the Air National Guard and active duty as a former Master Sergeant for the U.S. Air Force for 27 years.
Now he will continue that service through his place on the Excelsior Springs Board of Education.
Strack, who has been married to his wife, Diane, for over 20 years, is the father of four with two of his children still in school in the Excelsior Springs School District. His son, who is 10, attends Elkhorn. His daughter, 13, is in middle school.
“I don’t think my son really understands, but my daughter is a little worried that I’ll find out everything she does,” Strack laughed. His wife, he added, has been very supportive.
Strack is committed to students, education, and Excelsior Springs.
“You’ve got to develop kids. They are our next generation,” Strack explained.
He also brings the perspective of special needs parenting to the school board. His son was born with cerebral palsy and has epilepsy, so Strack is familiar with the struggles parents of children with special needs face, and the complexities of navigating Individual Education Plans (IEPs). To that end, he believes Excelsior Springs School District provides excellent resources to their students with different needs and their families.
“I want to continue all the great things the school district is doing with special needs. I want those parents to know that Excelsior is doing everything they can do to help them,” he said.
Strack’s excited about the direction the Excelsior Springs School District is taking. He’s particularly enthusiastic about the cooperation between the schools and the city, as well as the district’s ability to move with the changing times.
“I’d like to see us keep working as a team,” Strack said. “To develop as things change, because we have to be able to change as times change. I want to keep expanding and adjusting as education expands and changes.”
He believes Excelsior Springs is ahead of the curve on this.
“I think we need to get back to the basics of education, and make sure the kids are getting those basics before they move on,” Strack explained. He believes a lot of education has been geared towards testing, but he believes that Excelsior schools have made quite of few changes, and is geared more towards critical thinking skills, which he appreciates. “I want to continue that.”
Strack is excited, too, about the kids coming up through Excelsior school systems.
“I think it’s exciting. I think if we keep teaching the kids to learn to take responsibility for themselves, to learn to make their own way in our country, instead of being given everything, our country will be a lot better. We need to get them as much education as we can, to improve things, make sure they understand the history of this country, so we don’t repeat it. They need to think for themselves,” Strack said.
Strack recently retired from the Raytown Police Department as a sergeant, and volunteers in a number of different ways. Of particular importance to Strack is Warrior’s Ascent, a non-profit ran by veterans and their family members that focuses on healing for veterans and first responders dealing with the challenges of Post-Traumatic Stress. The program started three years ago. The group has served over 260 veterans and first responders since its inception.
For Strack, serving on the school board already compliments much of what he has done and what he is doing with his life. He wants to have an active role in shaping today’s youth, and feels he can best do that through his new role as member of the Excelsior Springs Board of Education.
“Education should be important to everybody,” Strack stated. “That’s our future.”