Northwestern
High School has greatly improved over the last couple of years. Many in the
school and the surrounding community have contributed to these improvements,
including Shirley Burke.
Burke,
in particular, has been extremely motivated to make Northwestern the best high
school in Detroit. Her bias is
certainly understandable. Currently,
Burke is one of Northwestern’s three assistant principals.
Burke
is originally from Richmond Heights, Mo. She
received her bachelor’s degree from Tennessee State University in 1965.
She later received a master’s degree from Eastern Michigan University
in 1975 and her education specialist degree from Wayne State University in 1981.
Burke
taught health and physical education at Glenville High School in Cleveland, Ohio
from 1965 to 1969. She then
relocated to Cass Technical High School to teach the same subjects.
She also coached girls' junior varsity basketball, girls' varsity
basketball, girls' volleyball, girls' tennis and boys' golf at Cass Tech.
According
to Burke, one of her most rewarding experiences came in 1973 when she coached
the girls' basketball team to the state AAU Championship. As a result, the team
got to fly to Kansas City, Kan., to play in the national tournament.
“We
did not win the championship, but it was the most wonderful experience for the
team,” says Burke.
Burke
eventually received a promotion as department head of health and physical
education at Southwestern High School. Another
promotion took her to Northwestern High School where she took on the
responsibilities of one of the school’s then two assistant principals.
Burke's
typical day consists of disciplining students; assigning substitute teachers;
supervising the physical plant managers; supervising the curriculum leaders of
the health and physical education and the business departments; and monitoring
student lockers, bus cards and the lunchroom.
Burke says she enjoys working at Northwestern High School because she feels that it is one of the most unique Detroit high schools – for numerous reasons:
Northwestern is one of only a handful of high schools in Michigan with a planetarium.
The
school has two libraries – the main library and the science library.
One
of Detroit’s two high school health clinics is located at Northwestern
High School.
Students
have the opportunity to take a sign language course.
The Detroit Public Schools' Urban Systematic Program, a math and science initiative program, is located at Northwestern High School.
She particularly appreciates the
impact her position can have on enhancing the
“The most gratifying part of
my job is attempting to relate, motivate and counsel students who need
assistance with overcoming obstacles that interfere with their education and
with their personal lives.”