Thanks Val. Val was one of the first recipients of “Gratitude Friday”. It was a way for me to thank community members who were unsung heros doing the work, helping make Sonoma the unique, amazing little town it is. Val was the force behind “The Communities Independent Voice” that [...]
Sports Are you languishing? Feeling depressed or in a rut? Not connecting with people in the way you once did? There’s an easy solution, cheap, fun, and transformative. If you are in high school, February 5th was the beginning of Spring sports: Baseball, softball, lacrosse, track, golf, swimming, volleyball [...]
To the driver of the red Honda who was opening her door this morning in front of the Monday Bakery on Napa Street, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you as I rode by but I wasn’t paying my normal amount of necessary-bike-riding-attention and I nearly ran into [...]
It’s time to put a fork in 2023, learn from the bad, plan for the good, and welcome 2024 with open arms and an optimistic mind. Because, well, that’s all one can do especially when the world is facing two wars, lots of hate, dysfunctional systems (Government, Education, Politics) [...]
Could be the after-Thanksgiving-pre-Christmas-post-COVID-languishing, could be the changing weather, could be the addictions (phones, pot, hate), and it could be that my students have finally hit the point where they truly don’t care. This is always a secret fear of mine, kinda like when we hit the point of [...]
Lots of press around teaching and learning these days. So, before anyone asks me (nobody ever asks me but that hasn’t stopped me in 221 blogs), I thought I’d give you the real story. Ready, here it is, education is in crisis because kids are in crisis because their parents [...]
Tuesday rules. The other side to last week’s blog about trickle down tyranny is that we are not in the Middle East or Ukraine. Sure, their pain is our pain and we will do all we can to stop the killing of innocent people but life goes on and [...]
Trickle down tyranny. Are you fighting with your friends/neighbors/colleagues/wife/husband/teachers/bosses or just about anyone you come in contact with who doesn’t agree with your way of thinking? Are you tired of seeing destroyed buildings and humans in pain due to bad people fighting or natural disasters which we seem [...]
“The Herculean work you do with kids.” Yeah, yeah, Herculean is definitely a stretch, but this line which came in an email from a friend/professional contact who knows my work, has kept me going for weeks. It’s all about the little victories. We are sitting in the shade [...]
Burning man is the world. I mean, think about it, a fun idea to bring people together, celebrate and promote worthwhile causes grows from a few people to 70,000 people then nature decides to turn a dry lakebed into a mud pit and suddenly people realize that burning might [...]
Walt Williams is in it for the money, that and the prestige that goes with 22 years of teaching in California high schools (he’s not the smartest tool in the shed). He firmly believes in more standardized testing and that fitting all students into the same box is really the answer. He strongly supports fracking and that climate change is a fantasy made up by hippie liberals, also that the military needs more funding and that schools should just stop whining.
Walt brings a lifetime of experience and energy to this new endeavor. He was the principal of the Arts and Ethics Academy in Santa Rosa for two years, and has spent the last 15 years engaging students in finding their paths at Creekside High School. He is the father of two and the husband of one and lives in Sonoma, California.
Walt is a skier; fly fisherman, wine tour bus driver, tennis player, and sometimes writer. He likes to dress up in front of lots of people and display large works of art around the community. His mantra is to work hard, create and love. Complex life, simple message.