From 1984 to 2021, I loved my work as a proud California public school educator. I live in Malibu with my wife Jill. Our two sons are out of the house – Ryan is an attorney in Sacramento and Dawson is a freshman at Colorado School of Mines. I most recently worked as the Superintendent of the Manhattan Beach Unified School District, but I’ve also worked as a principal and a high school history teacher. I love talking, writing, and thinking about parenting, public education, family, all things California and Arkansas, bicycling, swimming, cooking, bbq smoking, golf, Evernote, and Big Green Eggs.
Dear Dr. Matthews,
Thank you for writing very thoughtful articles. Your article on “Creating a Culture of Inclusion” was very insightful. I agree with your article in its entirety. You are right about Middle School children, but they are difficult to change at their age. They were the same when I was in middle school in 1912-1913. At that time Middle School was for 7th and 8th graders only. I still feel it should be only for those two grades. I think it will always be a difficult age group and I don’t think the 6th graders are ready for Middle School and for the testiness of the 7th and 8th graders. Their teachers can hardly manage them. Thank you for addressing this problem.
Mike, You hit the nail on the head for me this morning: “Life is better lived when we are living to get better.” Thank you, brother!
Thanks, Pat. This will sound wrong, but I love that line too! I even looked it up on Google to make sure I wasn’t remembering it from something I read. I’m glad it hit home for you.