The Right People at Just the Right Time
God was guiding me from behind the scenes.
In 1972, my career path looked more likely to lead to the factory than the classroom. I had graduated near the top of my class in the School of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation (HPER) at Indiana University. Unfortunately, my resumes, applications and inquiries seemed to hit one brick wall after another.
When I met with my advisor at the beginning of my freshman year, he gave me some very bad advice. I decided to major in physical education because all I wanted to do was coach, but I needed to declare a minor area in which I could teach too. I had always been interested in English, especially writing, but the advisor steered me away from English because of too many papers to grade and swayed me from social studies because it was what all coaches teach. Therefore, I chose business education as my teaching minor.
As I continued to look for teaching openings, I discovered all of the coaching jobs were for history and social studies teachers. As I continued to search days turned into weeks and the school year began with me still on the sidelines. I had a wife to support so it began to look more and more like I would have to return to the factory where I had spent the past summer.
Then unexpectedly I got a call from my neighbor. His Aunt Marge had a friend, Mrs. Loveless, who told her about an unexpected opening in Waynetown.
Waynetown Middle School
I quickly checked into it and two days later had an interview with the principal, Bob Quirk. The opening occurred in early September because the teacher was drafted to serve in the military. After the initial interview, I drove to Linden to meet Superintendent Eual McCauley. I remember him saying, “We don’t usually move this quickly, but can you start tomorrow?” I said, “I’m not licensed to teach general science or history.” McCauley smiled and replied, “You can read can’t you?” I spent the next seven years there, and fell in love with the little tight knit community.
Unfortunately, I lacked balance in my life. I spent a huge amount of time on my teaching and coaching career, while I spent any spare time with friends I made there playing in adult basketball and softball leagues. I had neglected spending time encouraging and tending to my wife’s needs which led to an unexpected divorce.
My cousin, Marilyn, knew what I was going through and knew how much I wanted to become a high school coach so she contacted me about an opening at Taylor High School, where I had done my student teaching a few years earlier.
Taylor High School
I remember during my interview with the principal, Don Edmonds. I said, “I am divorced. Will that be a problem? He looked at me and grinned, “Half the people here are divorced. It won’t be a problem.”
I spent the next 12 years there as a business teacher. During my tenure there, I found wonderful opportunities to coach baseball, basketball, football, track and cross-country. More importantly, it is where I met my wife, Sheri, who has been by my side for the past 40 years. In addition, I met a dear friend, George Phares, who became my first real mentor. He taught me great lessons about planning and follow through both in the classroom and on the practice field.
My midlife crisis occurred when I was 36. I thought, “do I really want to teach the rest of my life?” I considered the newly created MBA program at Indiana Wesleyan University in Marion, but decided my age might be a factor. After all, I would be competing with aggressive, up and coming twenty somethings. Instead, I decided to begin working on an Education Specialist Degree (Ed.S.) at Ball State University. This degree laid the groundwork for my later work as a principal and superintendent.
Three years later, I found myself unemployed. Despite 12 years seniority, reduction-in- force left my on the outside looking in. Now what?
Peru Junior High School
Finally, I began to see that God was working his plan. One morning after Sunday School Tom Holloway approached me and said he was looking for an administrator at Peru Junior High. The next day I met with him and Superintendent Tom McKaig.
The school board hired me at its next meeting. The learning curve was steep. The job forced me to learn quickly how to deal with student discipline, hire coaches and officials for the athletic contests, and supervise after school activities. Holloway was a great mentor and helped me every step of the way that year. Little did I realize he was preparing me to take his place.
Tom called me that next summer and told me he was leaving. I was not sure what to do. Was I was ready to be principal? Fortunately, most of the teachers respected me and McKaig had a lot of confidence in my ability. That principal chair has spawned three superintendents, McKaig, Celia Briggs, and myself.
I facilitated Peru Junior High’s successful transition from a traditional junior high to an innovative middle school. Our teachers became experts in middle school concepts. We entertained visitors from several schools who wanted to see how our program worked and made presentations at the Indiana Middle Level Education Association (IMLEA) Conference. Still I had my eyes set on central office work.
I had interviewed for an assistant superintendent position at Eastbrook but J.T. Coopman got the job. The next year Eastbrook’s High School principal position opened up. Once again, I applied. That time I lost out to Bob Shipley, the school’s junior high principal. Dr. Fox offered me the Junior High job, but I declined because I did not want to make a lateral move. At times, I felt like the stepchild always making it to the finals but losing out to the internal candidate.
When the Peru High School principal left, Dr. McKaig came to see me. The job was mine but I would have to commit for at least another five years. It was a difficult decision, but I turned him down and kept looking.
Eastbrook Community Schools
The next year, Coopman left Eastbrook for his first superintendency. Nevertheless, he called and asked me to apply again. Facing the board for the third time, I felt confident and finally my persistence paid off. I began my 14-year run at Eastbrook in 1998. Finally, I had arrived. I was the business manager, but I found myself also supervising transportation, building and grounds, food services, Title I, and serving as the district’s expulsion examiner.
For seven years, I handled all these duties but constantly felt stressed and felt as if I was not handling any of them effectively. When Dr. Fox retired, I interviewed for the superintendent position. I was the only candidate the board considered.
From the very beginning, I transformed the administrative team. I eliminated the positon of assistant superintendent, created full time principals at all four of the elementary buildings and divided the myriad of duties I had done all by myself between those four. I upgraded the high school’s hot lunch supervisor and placed her in charge of the food services program. I maintained the responsibility of business manager and all the administrators reported directly to me.
By far the most difficult task I faced was the closure of two elementary buildings. Declining enrollment made it nearly impossible to balance elementary class size since the two smaller schools, Washington and Matthews, were one-section schools. Transparency was the key. I hosted multiple meetings in the high school auditorium, laid out the financial implications of maintaining versus closing, and allowed hours of public comment. The board voted unanimously for my proposal to close the buildings and one former board member told me afterwards it was my finest hour!
To God be the glory
I realized God’s role in my career path so I dedicated my tenure at Eastbrook to him. I gave God the glory and organized a group of pastors from churches located in our district. The group met with me monthly, prayed for me and for the needs of the district. They helped me reestablish baccalaureate services and the pastor’s group presented each graduate a Bible.
For a public school, I pushed the envelope quite a bit. I did my best to hire only administrators with Christian backgrounds and opened meetings with prayer. I know I could not have made the rise to the top of my profession without the help and support of so many, but the connection I had with my Creator paid the highest dividend.
