Afternoon Mark Hamilton:
I finished watching my first meeting, and thoroughly enjoyed it. I read all three of the heirloom volumes and find it fascinating that I recently (last year) went through a very similar situation with my school Superintendent. I retired from the Navy after 27 years back in December 1991, whereupon I went to work for a health care organization. After 2 1/2 years I was let go during a reduction in force where an outside management firm decided that the organization had too many Directors (32) and had to get that number down to 12. I was then hired by another health care organization, and after 18 months the same scenario occurred. (Hospitals in the Philadelphia area were all trying to buy each other out or merge. I unfortunately was caught up in the mergers).
I started looking a third time for another position as a Director of Safety & Security, but shortly decided I wasn’t going through that again. I was already approved to teach Naval Science at the High School level so I decided to start looking for a position. I was very fortunate to find a position within an hour from my house. I worked there for 6 1/2 years, but had the opportunity to start a new Naval Science Unit at a school in South Jersey. That’s where my encounter began!
The first year I couldn’t do anything wrong, The second year the Superintendent started to become a slight bother. By my third year … you guessed it, I couldn’t do anything right. At both schools I was very comfortably and close with my Cadets (Students). They were interested in the same path that I had traveled. I continuously tried to instill in them the idea that they could come from any walk of life, decide what it was that they wanted to pursue in life, become a leader, and go after their dreams.
Although the Naval Science program is designed to develop young leaders, I don’t believe the Superintendent thought that so many of them would really go beyond where they were, truly start thinking for themselves, and start looking around at how things were being handled within our school district. At any rate the Superintendent decided that I was not a good fit for his school district and didn’t grant me tenure at the end of my third year. It has been a little bit of a struggle since then, but things are on the road to getting better.
I finished my second Masters Degree (in Education), completed the Principal/Administrator Program at Penn State University, and am awaiting my State Certificate (which seems to be a problem in and of itself). I have looked into developing a private charter High School, but am really only in the early stages of the process.
In the meantime, I have owned a very small janitorial service for 11 years, but last year really hadn’t completed much work. I am currently in the process of purchasing another small company so I can give my company a quick boost, if you will. I’m looking forward to really getting on the path of developing value for others by providing a needed service, at a fair price, with quality being the priority.
Sorry for this being a bit lengthy, but just had a few thoughts that I wanted to convey to you. I also might be interested in helping develop the area here in Philadelphia. What are your thoughts regarding this endeavor?
Thanks again for the books and first meeting. I look forward to gaining additional knowledge as each meeting progresses. I totally agree with your story regarding making the small steps each, but doing it continuously, so that over time, a wealth of knowledge will have been gained.
Best regards,
Bill A. Sr.
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