Good Day Dakota County: State of the Schools

Jane Berenz
Superintendent
Independent School District 196

During the past three decades, Jane has held several positions in the district, including teacher, elementary principal, district director, and for the last nine years, superintendent. For Jane, the most important part of being a leader is breaking down the walls of a hierarchy and recognizing the importance of being a good teammate.

“Working with others means serving with others, and the only way I am successful is if those around me are successful,” she says. “And that includes all of the students in our district.”

Tim Wynes
President
Dakota County Technical College
Inver Hills Community College

Tim also served as a college president in Iowa for eight years, but this is not what he planned for a career. Tim went to law school with the sole and singular purpose of being a criminal trial lawyer. He wanted to do that in the worst way and the worst way to do that in the 1980s was to become a public defender.  For three years, Tim was part of a small and slightly delusional team of defense lawyers in southwest Missouri where he handled jury trials and appeals that ranged from stolen saddles and cattle to death penalty cases.  

He eventually flipped to the prosecution side of criminal law and represented women and children who were victims of crime.  Tim became one of the experts on the legal issues surrounding domestic and family violence. That work took him to a faculty position at the University Of Missouri School Of Law. 

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