with William D. Parker and Friends
Last Friday night, our school hosted a second-round football playoff game. Just days before, the opposing team’s community of Guthrie, Oklahoma had suffered a devastating fire at an apartment complex that destroyed the homes of several students and resulted in…
Last weekend I attended the memorial service for a former student. His family members and friends took turns sharing how he had touched their lives with his kindness, curiosity, and creativity. It was an outside gathering, and the cold November…
Almost two years ago, I began posting weekly to share ideas for school leaders. That choice opened a lot of opportunities for me to collaborate with great educators, connect with people all over the world, and interview some fascinating leaders.…
Recently, my junior high daughter began taking clarinet lessons from a private tutor. When I picked her up from her first session, she said, “I have been playing for three years, but I learned today that I wasn’t putting the…
The other day my elbow was aching. I have a scar there from when I broke it falling from a horse almost twenty years ago. When it aches, I can usually be certain the weather will turn stormy. And it…
I’m sitting on a airplane above Dallas. It’s sunset and below in the misty sea of landscape, I can see patches of brown fields and green swaths of trees. Occasionally, I catch the glint of lights from buildings. In the…
Sometimes I look back at my days in school, and I am amazed that I ended up becoming a teacher and principal. During eighth grade, my Language Arts teacher, Ms. Owen, told me she wanted to make a deal with…
This week I am taking a break from posting about school to reflect on some events affecting my family. As we just celebrated Mother’s Day, I am so thankful for my mom. But today I wanted to take some time…
When my eight-year-old son Jack and I went camping this past weekend, we enjoyed crisp mornings, yummy food, good hikes, warm fires, and great company. But as we finished supper Saturday night, we felt the first raindrops. Jack sidled up…
I was talking to an assistant principal friend from a neighboring district who was telling me some funny stories from her middle school experience. She said her own mom and dad like to ask her to tell stories from school.…