Hein’s contract approved as new superintendent of schools

NICK HEIN is the man who wants to get things done at Rogers City Area Schools. He was serving as secondary principal, but now has the duties of superintendent as well. (Photo by Peter Jakey)
NICK HEIN is the man who wants to get things done at Rogers City Area Schools. He was serving as secondary principal, but now has the duties of superintendent as well. (Photo by Peter Jakey)

by Peter Jakey–Managing Editor
In Nick Hein’s office at Rogers City High School, there are items on display that remind him of the things that are important in his life.
There’s a photo of his grandfather Wally Hein in a Marine uniform. Wally served in World War II’s Pacific Theater.
The buck Wally shot when he returned to civilian life in 1945 adorns a wall. Wally went on to serve as superintendent of the Calcite quarry and worked 44 years at the plant.
There also are reminders of the school.
The shovel that was used to break the ground of the 1961 high school building was pulled from storage and leans against a wall, along with a poster urging voters to approve the project. Next to that is a poster of John F. Kennedy, who was president when the new school opened.
“It means something to me,” said Nick. “There was a large amount of pride when this place was built. I could not even imagine what it would take to construct a building of this size today. This is still quite the complex.”
He really likes looking at the United States Steel (USS) logo on the shovel.
“USS Steel and the Calcite Plant are so critical to our town even being here,” said Hein.
Hein’s connections to the past that decorate his office, provide a glimpse of the pride the Rogers City Area School’s administrator has in the town, the school and his roots. He has been serving as high school principal since the start of the 2016-17 school and was recently hired as superintendent.
The transition has been nearly seamless.
Nick was selected from a group of seven candidates and was the only one interviewed for the job. Negotiations went without a hitch too, according to school board president Ivy Cook.
After the board decided to hire the 2001 Rogers City High School alumni, Cook was instructed to meet with Hein to iron out a contract. They met once and it took only five minutes to nail down the details. He will continue receiving his regular salary of $60,000 as principal and $500 a week more superintendent.
“I am sure it pays more in other areas,” said Nick. He said the cost savings to the district would be about $50,000 a year.
“I just want to be someone who gets things done. I don’t want to have meetings to have a meeting. I don’t want to talk about 10-year plans that are never going to happen. I would prefer, ‘this is what we are going to do, and this is when we are going to do it.’ ”
Nick’s priority is to move the district forward.
“When there are problems, whether it is talking with the teaching staff, I don’t believe in the smoke-and-mirrors thing,” he added. “You tell everybody where we are at, what the problems are and what we are going to do to fix it. I think transparency is incredibly important.”
Hein was hired to replace David O’Bryant, who took over as superintendent at Farwell Area Schools.
Following Monday’s meeting, he quickly went over to the gym for parents’ night festivities, not to announce, but for support. One of many things, he believes are important.