Dan Hunter is an award-winning playwright, songwriter, teacher and founding partner of Hunter Higgs, LLC, an advocacy and communications firm. A Des Moines native, he has written several books and performed a solo show of topical humor in song in Iowa for seventeen years. He has a weekly Substack column called Learning and Teaching Creativity, a weekly examination of ordinary people who exhibit unexpected creativity. This essay was first published by the Arrowsmith Press.

People outside of Iowa believe that Des Moines is a desert of homogeneity. But the Des Moines Public Schools is a district of 30,000 students speaking 100 different languages from 90 separate countries. About 21 percent of the district’s students are Black and almost 33 percent are Hispanic.

During the 2022-23 school year, the school board conducted a closed, nationwide search for a new superintendent. They sought a leader who could increase reading and math skills, particularly among Black boys.

Ian Roberts was introduced as the new superintendent of Des Moines Public Schools on May 16, 2023. He was an animating spirit for growth and inspiration in Des Moines. Roberts wore bright pastel suits, flowered shirts, and track shoes. He took off running.