For the next few months I will be traveling and so the stories on this site will reflect my journey. I hope that you enjoy the photos and my account of my travels.
For 11 years I served as the technology Director for the Roaring Fork School District – a small school district in Western Colorado that includes the towns of Basalt, Carbondale and Glenwood Springs. The district serves approximately 5,000 students in 4 high schools, 3 middle schools and 4 elementary schools.
In my previous, professional life, I worked as a social worker/counselor/behavioral consultant. After earning my Master Degree in Social Work at the University of Missouri, my family and I moved to Glenwood Springs where I worked at Yampah Mountain Alternative High School. After 5 years of doing individual and family therapy with teenagers, I decided to re-focus my energy on elementary school students. The teenagers I had worked with were angry and stretched the patience of parents, social workers, probation officers and teachers. They “hated” school and people who worked there. I wanted to understand why they were so disenchanted with school. In particular I wanted to understand how school could serve these kids more effectively.
I spent the next 5 years working with elementary school teachers and their most challenging students. My job was to help students cope with the classroom and help teachers to restructure their class to help these kids succeed. Needless to say, I learned a lot about various “handicapping conditions”; the alphabet soup of ADHD, OCD, etc. . The best part… I also learned a lot about what a great teacher looks like and how they can make or break a students learning experience.
In the time that I spent as the director of technology, I learned much about how people relate and adapt to technology. Our schools require wired and wireless networks, phones, servers, desktop and mobile hardware. All of these devices and services require software. My staff and I trained and supported the staff, sometimes formally but more often in the heat of the battle. The process of training and support gives me ample opportunity to contrast the ease and stress that technology can produce. My mission is to help people find practical tools and ultimately to relax and find a pace and method that suits them.
“…for this moment, the world is forever blooming.”
a card left in front of my door
Bellingham, Wa
c1980
I have the great fortune of being one of David’s three brothers. Maybe I’m biased but this is a terrific blog by a great and spiritually sound man. He is a blessing to me and, by putting pen to paper (I’m old) he’s a blessing to many people.
With love,
Rob