I attended Milwaukee Public Schools for my entire pre-university educational experience. The schools I attended were a healthy mixture of racial, religious, socio-economic and educational styles. As a contrast to my urban school experience in Milwaukee, some of my most vivid memories were of attending a one-room schoolhouse 2 miles down the road from my grandparent’s farm, I can still hear and see the teacher stepping onto the steps of the wooden structure and ringing a hand bell to let us...
I attended Milwaukee Public Schools for my entire pre-university educational experience. The schools I attended were a healthy mixture of racial, religious, socio-economic and educational styles. As a contrast to my urban school experience in Milwaukee, some of my most vivid memories were of attending a one-room schoolhouse 2 miles down the road from my grandparent’s farm, I can still hear and see the teacher stepping onto the steps of the wooden structure and ringing a hand bell to let us know that it was time to come in to start lessons. I only attended when possible, when I was at the farm, and I was always welcomed and included. This experience planted a seed, an idea that stays with me continuously. Embracing others, inclusiveness and humanity are the universal keys to educating young people. After I finished both my undergraduate and graduate programs of study at The University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee in May of 1972, I embarked upon my career as a teacher in Milwaukee Public Schools. For 31 years I taught in the most challenging schools in the inner city: North Division HS, South Division HS, Lady Pitts Alternative HS (for pregnant and parenting teen-age girls), Hamilton HS and others as well. The students I was given to instruct were “non-compliant” in the extreme. I found it necessary to rely upon the development of my own humanity and respect for diversity and different (and sometimes unorthodox) ways of doing things to develop a teaching style that was patient, persistent, creative, personal and engaging. In short, my students taught me how to make education meaningful and fun. I learned from them much more than I ever taught them. My entire 31 year experience was an extended exercise in profound personal growth. And I loved it! When I retired from MPS in June of 2003, I turned to the supervision of student teachers for both The University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee and, primarily, Cardinal Stritch University. I also became a graduate instructor for McPherson College – Milwaukee Center and Viterbo Univer
