Life is full of opportunities that are just waiting to be discovered. I have been blessed to be a part of many and plan to keep my eyes open daily as they continue to show themselves.
Some of the moments that have already been captured include:
– Being a contestant on the Price is Right (Bob Barker style!)
– Starting 4 years for my university’s football team
– Having the most amazing girl in my life say “YES” to me on a trip to Paris, France and then “I DO” a few months later in Jamaica
– Single handedly rebuilding an entire school district network after a September lightning storm on my FIRST job
– Accepting the honor to speak at a graduation as requested by my students
– Writing and selling a state lesson planning software package to schools before the “big boys” even thought about it
– Being there to witness the birth of the 3 most beautiful kids in the world
– Integrating 5 different software platforms in a single Parent Portal system to streamline communications
– Stepping out on a business venture with a good friend…and failing
– Hiring on with a web applications firm with no experience in their development language and then managing the department less than 10 months later
– Rebuilding a Fortune 500 company’s website on a two week deadline and being personally thanked by the CEO on the way out the door (VERY COOL!)
– Teaching three years worth of amazing 5th grade students how to THINK
– Teaching years worth of experienced teachers how to try, risk and always FAIL FORWARD
– Leading the most incredible group of professionals on a journey with no end
– Bringing a student advocate program to our district with an amazing young man, Travis Allen
– Having the joy of spending the last 15 years (and counting) with the most beautiful person I have ever met
– Leading a region in technology to support nearly 600,000 students in their learning
– Attending the STEAM Carnival in San Francisco with my oldest son after breakfast with Senior Executives from Cisco
– Organizing and deploying a multi-million dollar plan to connect 62 school districts with 10GB and 100GB fiber
– Negotiating, getting approval and installing a $1.7 million dollar security upgrade with the latest technology
– Producing the STEAM Carnival for nearly 3,500 students over 3 days at ESC 11 with Brent Bushnell and Eric Gradman (3 TIMES!)
– Spending a day at the Nolan Bushnell home playing games and talking work, future and education
– Helping an officer pull up a homeless man hanging from a bridge over the Interstate
– Presenting the FIBER11 project to the FCC in Washington DC as the success story for their E-Rate program (TWICE!)
– Being inducted into my university’s Hall of Honor for football
This list is far from over and only continues to get better with every line. I try not to look too far in the future as I might miss something today.
