My personal Learning Journey
The Early Years 1965-1977
Spent 10 years teaching English at South Kitsap High School. Classes ranged from conventional classroom writing and literature to running a collection of non-graded electives as department head. Classes I personally wrote and taught included: Shakespeare, Film as Art, Early Amaerican Non Fiction, Debate, Creative Writing, Expository Writing, College Prep Vocabulary Building, American Poetry, Beginning Speech, Washington Humanities, War in America and English Literature. I coached debate for four years, was English Chairperson for four years and spent two years on loan to Marcus Whitman Junior High School teaching Washington Humanities. My fondest memories were of taking kids to the Ashland Shakespeare Festival on multiple occasions. Some were car-van trips and two involved 47 passenger chartered buses. In 1976 I took a leave of absence to test the waters as a building contractor. I had a need to explore that phase of my life. |
Haitus 1980 to 1992
Spent 12 years on the South Kitsap School Board (1980-1992) In 1980 levies were failing. The superintendent was in trouble with the community and school politics were front page news in the local newspapers. I was able to play a major role in selecting a new superintendent and shaping a fresh direction. In 1984 I coordinated bond promotion between citizens and the board. All promotion materials on the building campaign went across my desk. We passed the bond to build three new elementary schools and remodel others. No bond in S.K. has passed since. For 18 months I led the board in drafting the FutureScape which was a strategic plan for bringing technology to the district and directing program growth. I sold the elementary school and tore down the junior high I had attended. I also named the "Win Granlund Performing Arts Center" during that time frame. |
Return to the classroom 1998
My knees hurt, time was passing quickly, I knew I would always return to the classroom, but I was running short on time. In the Spring of 1998 I took a temporary position at the women's prison in Purdy teaching computer application skills.. I was expecting to face a room full of felons. What I found were women struggling to develop marketable skills to re-enter society on a standing where they could find success. I simply regarded them all as innocent and jumped into one of the more rewarding experiences of my life. At the end of that chapter I began intensely seeking a teaching position. I applied for 45 specific jobs in education. I had all but given up when a position opened at Key Peninsula Middle School. In my resume was the phrase "AutoCad Skills" which got me referred to a position in Cad at Peninsula High School. I still teach architectural design in a class we call CAD at PHS. |
I did not know exactly what I wanted to teach during my third act, but I knew it was going to be in career technical education.
High school has always fascinated me because it becomes the crucible of decisions a person makes that impacts them the rest of their life. I decided to focus more on the quality of projects and the journey a student follows in completing a course and focus less on evaluation. So I set about trying to create inherently interesting tasks that all students could complete but still feel they had met a challenge in the process. I also believed that from success comes competence. If we get good at what we do we begin to take pride in it and we begin to explore options for building on that success. I also got involved with yearbook and video which took me on a distinct learning trek into the intricacies of visual software like video and photo editing as well as page organization software such as InDesign. |
And, so on to the next chapter. I am really looking forward to developing friendships and meeting new students at Henderson Bay High School.
High school is a really fascinating time when we experience significant coming of age moments. It is a time we all look back at and think of all the possibilities. I love helping students explore and develop their talents to become successful on the journey of life.
High school is a really fascinating time when we experience significant coming of age moments. It is a time we all look back at and think of all the possibilities. I love helping students explore and develop their talents to become successful on the journey of life.