When I started my first principal assignment 30 years ago in the fall of 1973, a veteran teacher came into my office and said, “I am retiring at the end of this school year and if I had it to do all over again, I would keep a journal of those things that happened that were sad, silly or unusual.  I’ve forgotten many of them now but if I had taken time to write them down during my 35 year career, I could write a great book.  My advice to you is don’t wait – start now!” 

From that day forward, at the age of twenty-seven, I have entered into my daily planner notes from over 400 situations, some which were really humorous to those that were heartbreaking.  With the intention of writing this book, I have stored my planners in boxes and moved those boxes from new home to new home as my career opportunities expanded.

This first volume of Inside the Not So Hallowed Halls contains real-life stories about happenings in public school settings that I have experienced in my roles as a teacher, middle school principal, high school principal, and superintendent of schools in three school systems in two states.  Some of the stories are funny, some are sad, and some contain lessons learned which will hopefully benefit those interested in entering the education profession.  Each story is not reliant on any other. 

Since we have all had school experiences, many of the stories will resurrect a memory or emotion of something which occurred in the readers’ school lives that may have been similar – a hook into their past or present.  Each story takes the reader into and through the situation and allows the reader to experience the emotions of the participants and hopefully will remind them of their school friends, teachers, principals, peers, or fellow staff members.  Inside the Not So Hallowed Halls provides an opportunity for readers to daydream about their past or present school experiences and to reminisce and share with friends how these stories or characters relate to their lives.

Inside the Not So Hallowed Halls is about relationships and experiences between all kinds of people associated with education.  It is about real life situations that evoke a wide and varied range of emotions.