What I will say at graduation next Wednesday… Life is not a Zoom meeting. Congratulations class of 2021, not just for completing your high school requirements but for living through the most challenging academic year ever. The values you have shown-perseverance, empathy, hard work will take you [...]
Dear Superintendent Palazuelos, Welcome to Sonoma! Congratulations on your (4-1) schoolboard confirmation last night, please learn from the vote that the district is rarely in universal agreement about, well, almost anything (sometimes this is good, sometimes not so good). Since you are the new kid in town, I thought [...]
White Seth Rogan knocked on my door. “Hey Walt, I’d like to produce your three-story ideas (Fieldtrippin, Skiing Austria, Whinetours) into movies, give you an office in LA where you can polish the scripts and work on future projects plus you can move into my spare house on the beach [...]
Slow down. Sure, the next 700 words are important but if you only remember one thing, it’s the two words above. And I mean it in a literal sense as in, when you are driving or biking or skating or even walking-slow down. But also in a big picture [...]
Happy Earth Day party people! Now, let me tell you why I don’t like Earth Day. One would think that with my philosophy of radical environmentalism and love of mother earth that this would be a big holiday for me. All the biking, cleaning of Nathanson creek, teaching environmental [...]
A good man Takes responsibility for his actions. Protects loved ones. Is healthy in mind and body. Plays the long game. Plays by the rules. Recognizes and corrects his failures. Is loyal, virtuous and moral. Is a man of his word. Treats everyone with respect. Expresses emotions. Doesn’t believe [...]
It’s Easter Sunday and I’m missing pastor Rich, who passed away two years ago, as I drive past St Andrews. Rich was about as close as I get to capital G God. I’m more of a small g god person, believing that faith is good and whoever you pray [...]
Do you love democracy? Of course, you do, otherwise you would live in Saudi Arabia or North Korea or China. It makes sense that the people make the rules, that we elect our leaders, that we prioritize things by which things people feel strongest about. Are there frustrations? Of [...]
A year later. Well, that was something, and what a neat way to end the countdown, exactly one year ago it was Spring Break and I was planning a ski trip, midway through the boys tennis season, sad that SIFF 2020 was postponed and preparing for the final spring [...]
I’m not a huge fan of data or report cards. When UC Santa Cruz bagged traditional grades and went with teacher evaluations, I applauded. When they went back to grades in 2001, I understood the reasons but it’s kind of like America adopting the metric system. A better [...]
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.