‘Bob K.’ known for compassion, personableness, high academic standards
By Michael S. Hoey
Correspondent
“If not you, who?”
Former Lake Geneva Badger Principal Bob Kopydlowski said that often at faculty meetings and at the end of every email sent to staff. Kopydlowski used positive reinforcement to recognize the excellence at Badger High School while always pushing to get better. To do that, Kopdlowski always stressed the importance of the relationships teachers and staff build with students.
After fighting an aggressive form of brain cancer for more than a year, Kopydlowski, 50, died on Sept. 24 in his home surrounded by his family. Kopydlowski missed most of the first semester last year but came back after Thanksgiving and made it through to graduation. Kopydlowski had extra motivation to attend the graduation as his son Tyler transferred to Badger for his senior year and received his diploma from his father.
Kopydlowski then went on disability and former culinary arts teacher Russ Tronsen was hired as Badger’s new principal.
“Bob K. loved everything about Badger High School,” Superintendent James Gottinger said.
“He was a tremendous leader and a better human being,” Gottinger said. “He will be sorely missed by the Badger community and all who know him.”
A community or family was exactly what Kopydlowski created when he became principal.
“Bob brought together our staff after the previous principal, and he humanized the role of the principal,” Associate Principal Mike Giovingo said.
Giovingo became associate principal the same time Kopydlowski was named principal. He said Kopydlowski was known for buying food and clothing for families in need and paying for other student expenses out of his own pocket.
Giovingo said Kopydlowski showed that kind of compassion while still promoting education and strong academic achievement.
“He was a talented educator, athlete and all-around good person… and he was my friend,” Giovingo said.
Kopydlowski came to Badger in 1989 as an English teacher, later became a social studies teacher and spent the last eight years of his career as principal. Kopydlowski was also an assistant basketball coach, assistant and head softball coach and freshman class advisor. Personally he was known for astounding students at teacher-student basketball games with his prowess behind the three-point line and his passion for the Green Bay Packers, UW-Madison athletics, golfing and fishing, collecting sports memorabilia and his hobby of framing art and memorabilia.
“He came to Badger with a skill set that helped build a culture of trust and collaboration that was appreciated by all,” Gottinger said. “This allowed Badger to flourish and expand curricular and extra-curricular opportunities and expand upon the great reputation of Badger High School.”
It was clear that “Bob K” was more than just a principal. He was the heart and soul of Badger High School.
“Mr. K was an exceptional human being and principal,” student Cassidy Giese said. “He made school a place to learn instead of a place to get good grades.
“He created this mindset in students that it was OK to be smart, that it was OK to be an academic – that being a nerd was not a bad thing,” Giese said. “Mr. K created opportunities for every kind of person and encouraged every person to seek their passion. He was not a person that you find anywhere. He was one in a million and will forever be in my heart as well as the hearts of my fellow students.”
“Mr. K. was more than just a principal, he was an adult you knew you could trust no matter what, even if you didn’t know him,” student Molly Dover said.
“He was fair to his students and staff and made sure everyone felt safe at school and out,” Dover said. “He changed Badger for the better, and I am so grateful to have been able to attend the school while he was still with us.”
Former student and cancer survivor Jacey Powers was inspired by Kopydlowski as well. He was Powers’ American history teacher.
“I adored and respected Mr. K,” Powers said. “I thought he was a brilliant teacher and I truly looked forward to seeing him every day. I loved his class.”
Powers said Kopydlowski was so encouraging after she set the curve on the first test that she was inspired to keep setting the curve on every other test.
“I have never been more academically motivated than I was in that class,” Powers said. “I wanted to do well, not because Mr. K was so tough, but because he was so kind. He was a good listener. He spoke thoughtfully. He was very reasonable.”
Powers said Kopydlowski supervised the lunch room and would often take the time to talk to her and her friends about nothing and about important things, like what it was like to adopt two children from Bulgaria. Kopydlowski and his wife, Diane, adopted Tyler and Lauren, and the stories he told about the emotionally battering plane rides home stuck with Powers over the years. “I am a better person for having been taught by Mr. K,” Powers said. “The world was a better place because of him.”
Former student Michael Trester expressed similar thoughts. Trester had freshman English with Kopydlowski, and Kopydlowski was Trester’s basketball coach. Trester, who graduated from Badger in 1996 as one of the best big men in the basketball program’s history, said Kopydlowski made English class fun and worthwhile even though Trester did not like the subject matter.
It was on the basketball court where Kopydlowski had the most influence on Trester, who, in his own opinion, was a horrible basketball player as a freshman who wanted to quit.
“He saw something in me, maybe he saw some of himself in me,” Trester said.
Trester, who visited Kopydlowski at St. Luke’s Hospital, gives all the credit for the basketball career he ended up having to Kopydlowski. He also credits Kopydlowski for giving him the confidence he needed to be successful as a medical sales representative today.
Badger’s staff and former staff remembered Kopydlowski fondly as well.
“Bob had a consistent congenial personality, a great sense of humor, and was a natural leader because he knew how to work on behalf of the good of others without a personal agenda,” former teacher Dawn Nelson said.
Nelson said Kopydlowski worked tirelessly for Badger’s staff union when he was a teacher resolving conflicts between administration and staff and maintaining friendships on both sides. Nelson said that might have helped pave his way to his role as principal, but he never forgot where he came from.
“He was one of ‘them’ (administration), yes, but he was still very much one of us,” she said.
Nelson said Kopydlowski believed family came first and he always wanted the staff to take care of themselves because they would be more productive that way. She also said he stepped in as principal at an extremely difficult time as many teachers were in financial and emotional despair as a result of the passage of Act 10 by Gov. Scott Walker and the state Legislature, and there had been some rifts between the staff and the previous principal.
“Bob came in and managed to be like salve on wound. He calmed the waters and pulled us back on our feet,” Nelson said. “I loved Bob K., and I will carry him around in my heart until I see him again.”
Teacher Matthew Pella credits Kopydlowski for saving his career.
“I was stuck in another district, and I was seriously considering picking a different profession because there was constant negativity surrounding the profession over there,” Pella said. “He hired me here and was nothing but positive and supportive during my two years here at Badger. I’m going to miss him.”
Pella said his previous principal talked to him directly fewer times in three years than Kopydlowski did in his first week at Badger.
“The guy actually cared about his teachers,” Pella said.
“I will always remember Bob as an amazing collection of strengths and character,” teacher John Dicmas said. “He was a teacher who experimented with effective curricula and he made a successful leap to administration when it was needed the most.
“Above all, he believed in the inherent good of all the humans I ever saw him contact. My heart is broken, but we should carry on.”
Teacher Larry Plapp fondly remembered Kopydlowski coming back to the agriculture area to pet the rabbits when his job got stressful.
“Bob was a believer that all aspects of education, whether it be a core subject or an elective area, are equally important,” Plapp said. “Bob was a quiet leader who led Badger with dignity and pride and his core foundation was that in everyone there is good.”
Teacher Phil Huff said what people didn’t see was as important as what they did. Huff said Kopydlowski often met with teachers one-on-one and understood their challenges because he had lived them himself as a teacher at Badger.
“If a teacher asked for something or needed something, he wanted to know how it would be good for students,” Huff said. “Once he knew that, there was nothing that would stand in the way of getting the task done. That was the ‘real’ Bob. No seeking credit, always behind the scenes, doing what he could to support teachers, learning and our students.”
“Bob believed in kids and staff and always tried to help them do their best,” teacher Joe Reed said. “He’d stop everything to help a person out. All that and countless other acts of kindness are what make us miss him even more.”
“What first comes to mind about Bob – his calming presence,” teacher Alexis Farrell said. “He made me feel like I was the best version of myself.”
“I would say that for many teachers here, and especially for me, Bob is the main reason why we are here,” teacher Sarah Bunton said.
Bunton said Kopydlowski encouraged her to apply at Badger, but she was happy where she was. She said his personality alone convinced her to make the move.
“He made Badger great and better than any school in this area,” Bunton said.
Teacher Nancy Lazzaroni’s daughter attended Badger, so she has experience working with Kopydlowski and as a parent of a student who had him as a principal. Lazzaroni said she feels Badger’s students, both good and not-so-good and their parents respected Kopydlowski as an authority figure.
New staff member Brandi Powell never got the chance to work alongside Kopydlowski but she was his student and the parent of one of his students. She said as a student she always enjoyed Kopydlowski’s positive attitude, excitement and his overall enthusiasm about teaching and education.
Powell said years later when her daughter had Kopydlowski he was just as great as she had remembered him to be. Powell said she remembers at freshman orientation, Kopydlowski looked around and noticed that a third of the parents there had been students of his.
“He was both excited to lead a new generation but also couldn’t believe that he had been at Badger that long,” Powell said. “Mr. K. was always willing to go that extra step to make everyone feel comfortable and his demeanor was always a happy one with a bright smile on his face. He will be missed by the staff, students, parents and community of Badger.”
Teacher Michael Ploch was also a former student of Kopydlowski. He remembered Kopydlowski as mild mannered, kind, funny and just a great teacher. He said Kopydlowski was that teacher everyone wanted to see on their schedule with his understanding personality and humor.
Ploch said he was amazed when Kopydlowski came into the classroom and thanked him for subbing since he had not had him in class for seven years. Kopydlowski later told him he should apply at Badger as a teacher, which Ploch found very encouraging.
“That is just the type of guy that Bob was – he put others before himself and always found ways to encourage others,” Ploch said.
Despite being sidelined by his battle with cancer when Ploch applied at Badger, Kopydlowski sent an email to the administrators in charge of filling the position and encouraged them to hire Ploch.
“If it weren’t for Bob, I may not have a job at Badger, and I am forever grateful for that,” Ploch said. “I think the fact that he found time to do that speaks volumes about his character and his passion for helping others and this school.”
Substitute teacher and Joint 1 school board member Mike Franzene said thousands of wonderful kids and hundreds of terrific staff have seen to it that millions of fine things have happened at Badger.
“So far, the very best of those things has been Bob Kopydlowski’s principalship,” he said.
After Tronsen was hired as Badger’s new principal, Kopydlowski said Badger’s staff makes it a great school to lead.
“We have an amazingly talented and gifted staff,” he said.
“Truly, part of the job is to make sure the staff has what it needs to get the job done and then get out of the way,” he said. “The results are generally amazing.”
As he left Badger in June, Kopydlowski said he would miss working with the faculty, so many of whom had become good friends, and he would miss the students. He said his job never got old, boring or dull. There were always new challenges.
“I can’t say thank you enough to Badger and the communities that feed into it,” Kopydlowski said.
Teacher Beth Parish shared an email to staff that was typical Bob Kopydlowski: “Thank you for all you do for Badger and for doing your part to make this a great school for our students. Teachers never seem to get enough credit for all the work that is done and the increasing demands of the job. On behalf of all of our students, parents and community, thank you.”
No Bob, thank you.
Delavan Enterprise correspondent Michael S. Hoey is a social studies teacher at Badger High School.
