Category: Career lessons

Several years ago, while still the Superintendent of Britton-Macon Area School, I shared books with my staff on opening days.  I presented a different one for the final eight years of my tenure:  Tuesdays with Morrie, Who Moved My Cheese, all the Tom Brokaw “greatest generation books”, and numerous others. Mitch Album’s Tuesdays with Morrie …

I met Larry Bush in the fall of 1991. He was the President of the Britton-Macon Area School Board of Education. I was one of six candidates being considered for the superintendent position. When I received the news of his death on a Facebook post eight months ago, I learned he was three years younger …

When I was Superintendent in Britton-Macon, one of the coaches had a “24-hour rule”.  He invoked it with upset parents.  Most such parents wanted to talk in the heat of the moment.  They were concerned with a disciplinary issue or their son’s lack of playing time.  The coach thought waiting to handle the discussion would …

I played golf with three men in The Villages last Sunday. They knew each other but I didn’t know them. We introduced ourselves and that’s when I noticed the logo shirt one of the guys was wearing. I waited until the second hole to say, “So, you’re a local celebrity.” he denied the status, but …

David didn’t like school and did his best to do nothing. He wasn’t particularly gifted, but he showed signs of progress from time to time. I never let him just coast, so sometimes we didn’t get along. He wanted to do as little as possible and just get through the day. On one particularly challenging …

When I was teaching middle school, we taught in four person teams. There were four certified instructors representing one of four disciplines: math, science, social studies, and language arts. While I had a double major in the social sciences and English, I taught language arts for seven of my eight teaching years. I taught seventh …

We had a half day of school that day, so as soon as the students departed, the staff got together one last time for lunch.  I spoke about my family’s plans, cried a bit, and ended the day with a challenge. We’d been a staff of risk takers.  We were innovators.  We mainstreamed special needs …

Thirty years ago this week I left my job as elementary school principal in Addison to become the Superintendent of Britton-Macon Area Schools. I started on Monday, November 4, 1991, the first day of the second nine week marking period.  I had been interviewed through-out the prior three months, received an offer, and gave my …

I retired from what I call my “real job” in January of 2008. I taught for eight years, was an elementary school principal for fifteen, and spent my last sixteen years as a school superintendent. I’ve had a contract with the Michigan Works system since then. During my tenure with Michigan Works, I’ve worked with …

About a dozen years ago, I found a note on our garbage can as I was getting ready to roll it up our driveway. It was written on the corner of an envelope I discarded.  I took it off, read it, and then went looking for a frame.  The framed note sat on a shelf …