I don’t know if you ever wonder
where I find ideas for a topic for one of my educational blogs. Actually, I get
my ideas from many different sources. I have chosen for this blog an email sent
to me from one of our former students. I will not give you his name or the
names of the local schools because the thrust of what he is saying and his
pilgrimage over time are what I want you to focus on.
Dr. Simpson,
I want to send this to you to say
thank you. I’m not sure if you know of all of my journey in education, but I
know you know how I fought the idea of even becoming an educator. I was set on
using Maryville as a place to get a business degree, cruise on to law school
and becoming the next Jerry Maguire. But fate, the Lord and Terry Simpson knew
better!
You may not remember talking to
me about becoming an education major my sophomore year and again my junior
year. You may not know that to this day I felt there was a sinister plot
involving you and Jim Pavao to talk me into this pathway and four years I
worked on how that could be with a conspiracy theorist like mentality. But in
the end, it brought me to where I am today. It has been quite a journey since
2003. A journey of returning home to OR to learn the lesson no man can be a prophet
in his own town to carving out a new try in Nashville, to burning out of education
completely to sale construction to a return to OR. It’s been quite a
ride, I’m not sure if I am coming or going most days, but I want to thank you
for putting me on the rails.
On July 20th, I made
another leap. This time a leap of massive proportion. I have traded in my 1.8
mile commute to the middle school I attended here in OR as the Vice Principal to take on the task of building a virtual
learning program for Knox County as the assistant principal for grades 6-12. We
have close to 19,000 students in the district K-12 in the virtual learning
program. For my role, I helped to serve close to 10,000 of those students along
with countless teachers and my amazing principal. We have been building this
program, and working to design how we are going to help support all of those
students, teachers and families.
It dawned on me today, in the
middle of my 25th conversation with a confused parent, who had no
idea what asynchronous meant, talking on the phone this evening with two
teachers who are unsure, and preparing to produce a video on connecting with students and families in a
virtual learning environment for my morning staff video messages, I owe
you. I would have never chosen this life for myself. A life and pathway I know
led me to my amazing wife, who is an assistant clinical professor at UT K
teaching elementary teachers how to teach math. A life that has led to the two
most amazing children in the world has seen and a life where I now can truly help students help
their kids. A life where all of the challenges I made to the status quo of
education are coming to fruition for me as I am able to help make real change.
You lit the first flame and there have been many days along the way I have
bless you for that and many days I have cussed you for it as well (imagine me
as a sports agent, making 3%...ahhh living the dream).
I wanted to tell you how much I appreciate you! How grateful I am for
you and seeing in me, something I never would have seen in myself. At the end
of the day, Maryville College was a great experience, but I truly believe the
Lord knew this great-grandson of an Irishman needed to be a Scot to me Dr.
Terry Simpson.
I appreciate you more than you’ll
ever know and I love you dearly for infusing a passion for helping kids into my
life.
I hope you are doing well and
enjoying retirement.
CL
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bless you my children,
TLSimpson
