During my tenure as School Superintendent of District 90 schools in River Forest, I was blessed to have an amazing school board led by parents who cared passionately about bringing the best educational outcomes to our children and community. One of those parents was Kristin Coe, who served on the board of education for eight years. I always knew I could rely on her raw intelligence and ability to move things forward to advance our agenda, including the passage of an important referendum to help … [Read more...]
Teaching Our Children to Take Care of our Earth
In 1970, Earth Day was anointed as an annual day to recognize the relationship between humans and our home, the earth. As I recall, Earth Day was not a major day of recognition where I lived at the time. I was twenty-two years old and working hard to earn my teaching degree at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas. My husband Lt. James L. Hull was in pilot training at Reese Air Force Base and committed to earn his wings in the Air Force. Amid everything else we had going on, this new holiday … [Read more...]
Lessons from a Teenage Boy
Last week, I wrote about the importance of developing and educating forward-thinking young men. The topic made me think about my days as a principal in Topeka, Kansas. I’ll never forget a young boy who was enrolled in my middle school after he had recently moved to the area as a new student. Prior to moving to Topeka, he had grown up on the Potawatomi Indian Reservation approximately twenty miles north of Topeka. He had moved away from the reservation to live with a relative after some family … [Read more...]
Helping Adolescent Boys Avoid Becoming Lost Young Men
Much has been written about the need for new approaches to shaping and defining healthy masculinity in the 21st Century. The current issue of the Atlantic Magazine touches on this topic. It’s called, “The Miseducation of the American Boy.” As a life-long educator, I believe many of the issues raised are relevant to my own experience over decades and are worthwhile for discussion. Years ago, as a young principal at Boswell Junior High School in Topeka, Kansas, I had a ninth-grade male … [Read more...]
“Mentors Matter”: Guidance Through Life’s Most Challenging Moments
In my upcoming book, Your Turn: Ways to Celebrate Life Through Storytelling, I write about the privilege of being mentored by adults who guided me through adverse life moments when I was a youngster, teenager and later as an adult. Because I am lucky to have benefited from the sage counsel of others, I have made it one of my life’s missions to give back to others in my professional role as a teacher, school principal, and superintendent. Throughout my career in public education, I was often … [Read more...]
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