Comments:
I am proof of the saying that we had at the University of Minnesota “Those that can Do”, ‘’ those that can’t do teach” and those that can’t teach become administrators”.
As an example anyone that knew my great driving skills in high school would not be surprised that I taught Drivers Education for 12 years. I was a Captain in the Minneapolis Police reserves for 10 years. During this time I trained Police Reservists how to direct traffic and I worked traffic control at all of the University of Minnesota football games and other special events in Minneapolis. I was also the recruiting officer for the Minneapolis Police Reserves.
Life is full of ironies I always had to work really hard for my grades and I could not wait to get out of school. My goal was to become an Electrical Engineer. I attended the Institute of Technology at the University of Minnesota. After my second year the counselors at the U of M discovered that I had a few learning disabilities and that I was reading at a third grade level. In December of 1963, I received my Associate of Arts Degree from the U of M. Winter Quarter of 1964 I began to attend St. Cloud State College. After changing my major about nine times I finally completed St. Cloud State College with 394 under graduate credits (I only needed 192 to graduate). I had a B.S in Math, B.S. in Business and a contract with St. Paul Public Schools.
I began my teaching career August of 1967. I attended the U of M night program and summer session and received my Driver Education Certification the summer of 1968. I attended St. Cloud State University nights and during the summer until August of 1977 when I received my Masters in Psychology and got my certification as a high school counselor. Once becoming a High School Counselor, I enrolled at the University of St. Thomas in their school administration program. In the summer of 1989 I finally complete my college course work and received my certification as a High School Principal.
I taught for 12 years before becoming a high school counselor. While working as a High School Counselor I was lucky enough to help create an Area Learning Center (ALC) for the Saint Paul Schools, this lead to the creation of their Adult Diploma Program. I was the Supervisor of the Adult Diploma Program (ADP) until I retired from Saint Paul Schools in June of 2003. From Saint Paul I was part of a team that created the Minnesota Internship Program Charter School and the Community Learning Project contract school. For a short time I was the Principal of both the Minnesota Internship Center and Community Learning Project. I was also the Executive Director of the Community Learning Center. In the last couple of years I have been trying to retire. Now I am only working part-time as the Principal of the Minnesota Internship Center and CEO of AGP, LLC. This sounds great unless you have worked in education and realize that I make just a little more money than a greeter at the neighborhood Walmart Store!
The interesting thing about the path that my life followed is that in high school I hated school. I had lots of trouble with homework, later to find that I was most likely ADHD. I graduated with above average grades even though I later learned that I was only reading at a 3rd grade reading level. This is most likely why I spent my life trying to learn something that I could do. In other words for someone that really does not like school it has taken me a long time to complete my education. I still have not decided what I want to do when I grow-up.
