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Schools 2.0 a Post From the Field
HeroTown IISecret OriginSusan Peaks came into the world seventy years ago in a rural town outside of Toledo. The middle child of Fred and Mabel ,her hardworking parents ,who worked a small farm. Mabel ran the modest home cooking, cleaning, canning the food, making pickles, jams and other edibles that supported the five family members. Fred worked at The Standard Oil company in addition to working the farm and caring for the bees that yielded caramel colored jars of comb honey for family and for selling at a small roadside stand along the gravel driveway.Like her parents Susan was an avid reader and excelled in her studies with a natural talent for math, physical sciences and history. Susan attended an all female college not far from home and in the process rediscovered a childhood fascination with astronomy. While in graduate school she met Vincent a young chemistry professor who matched her passion for learning and desire to raise a family. A year later they relocated to Grandview Ohio , a small city suburb of Columbus where Vince had secured a position as an editor of scientific journals while Susan managed the apartment until locating a house in a nearby suburb that was more than fit to settle into and start a family. Vince and Susan adopted a baby boy in 1966 and then a girl in 1968 followed by a two year old child through a Catholic Adoption Program for babies living in an orphanage in Pusan, Korea.The three children thrived in the quiet suburb while Susan slowly found herself sliding into the role of "single parent" with Vince away on business , working long hours and eventually disconnecting from the rest of the family. After several years of a chaotic and stressful marriage Susan returned to graduate school to pursue a masters degree and a doctorate in Physics with a specialization in Astrophysics. Susan sought higher education and in addition she received an elevated sense of self and the personal power to have a full life that included children, grandchildren and distinguished career, teaching at a nearby University, running a prestigious lecture series as well as operating a small observatory and planetarium for students and community groups.Super PowersSusan has had a long career as an activist; donating her time and resources to the education of several young students in Central America, providing support for prospective scientists (particularly young women --when she graduated in the late seventies women made up less than ten percent of the academics with an advanced degree in physics.) Susan traveled the world doing research and she made sure that her three children had opportunities to visit other countries even traveling with her to the mountainous regions that are home to the worlds most powerful telescopes.
Now in her fourth career she plays a very active role in the lives of her grandchildren, continues to work as a part-time teacher and is a technical writer and consultant for a educational services company. She recently lost her husband Vincent to a rare blood cancer after three grueling years of providing for his needs and well-being. Susan's parents lived into their nineties so it is not surprising she can still out work many thirty year olds and continues to create a legacy of generosity, selflessness, a never ending curiosity of the young girl who gazed up to the night sky and became a "star doctor"as her seven year old grand-daughter says it. Susan is a hero to many students, friends and family that still looks up to the night sky in her backyard --providing others with a wondrous view of the heavenly bodies she has shared with so many --humble, compassionate and brave she continues to bring us back to earth, back home.Labels: career satisfaction, investment, magic, productivity, service, Vocational Identity, youth
HomeTown Hero I
Secret Origin
A healthy baby boy is is born to a single mother at Mt. Carmel East Hospital in the quiet predawn hours in the summer of 1956. The baby grew into a tall young man, an only child in a very large extended family.T. Wayne Gatewood lived in a large brick house in a west-side neighborhood known as The Hilltop (He would grow up there and move out some forty one years later). After his cousins, aunts, nieces and nephews, Mother and Grandmother and finally his three grown children moved on and time came for T. Wayne and his wife to find a smaller nest to settle into.
T. Wayne's formative years were filled with the contrast of the ugly fallout of civil rights to living with family and friends that acted as a buffer as mentors, companions, elders, who provided a profound love and handed him the mighty walking stick of the families traditions. T.Wayne's early journey included eating with his Grandmother Lizzie who prepared a meal they shared during the school lunch period, the fascination of learning carpentry from his Uncle Nate with the intoxicating smell of fresh wood and the skill and ease that several family members handled tools and created something from nothing. T.Wayne learned what it meant to be a Gatewood despite being called a clumsy slow learner and being chased home by small groups of white men looking to act out the toxic racism that fueled their rage and violence. It was a chaotic and confusing moment in history to navigate the choppy waters of adolescence. It is said that " A boy without a father is like a ship without a compass." Superpowers T.Wayne got involved with football and track at Columbus West High School and the tutoring at home and school took this slow learner to West Virgina University to study business and play offensive tackle in the 1975 Peach Bowl under legendary Coach Bobby Bowden. Wayne and his young wife both work to live in a small apartment with their baby girl. His scholarship was just enough to sustain his needs and money for rent, food, diapers and other essentials came from part-time work. T. Wayne graduated from W.V.U. with a business degree, a new ability to "learn how to learn" and a baby boy on the way. Along the way Wayne uncovered a natural talent for working with young people, an entrepreneurial mind, a love of professional speaking, training and a passion for carpentry. The moment these elements of his true self converged THE BUILDER emerged to give his hands, heart and head to crafting a Vision of a world where all people have access to use their superpowers to Build dreams and live in the hard, satisfying work of change. Labels: Action Hero, career satisfaction, cuttin grass, design, E.Q, Fatherhood, fear, local heroes, Multiple Intelligences Theory, parental expectations, THE BUILDER, Vocational Identity, youth
Unlocking Cool - By Jeremy Gutsche, TrendHunter.comFrom: trendhunterBy methodically approaching innovation, organizations and individuals can generate ideas, stimulate creativity, and ultimately unlock cool. The UNLOCKING COOL presentation is typically delivered as a keynote speach with the slides used as a reference for the discussion. Link: SlideShare Link Labels: Corporate Culture, cultural creative, Good Media, marketing, money, social network, symbolic language, Trends, youth, youth culture
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