1969 was one of those years that just bends culture in a new direction. In the span of about a month, we landed on the moon, the Manson killings shook California to its core, and a few weeks after that, half a million people showed up in a muddy field in New York for Woodstock.…
I’ve been lucky throughout my life. More times than I can count, I’ve ended up in the right place at the right time. If I have one real skill, it’s spotting an opportunity and grabbing it before it passes by.
As a teenager, I banged up my knees pretty badly, which knocked me out of the sports I’d been playing and pushed me toward other interests.…
People sometimes use the word “backward” to describe something that’s just not quite right. I once lived in a house like that — literally backward.
It sat in a field behind an industrial strip of shops. The story goes that the city of Hayward, California planned to build a street through that section, then scrapped it — but not before the house got built facing the street that never happened.…
Finishing my undergraduate degree is one of my greatest accomplishments, but it almost didn’t happen. Being the first in my family expected to graduate, the pressure was on. Yet, in my rush to kickstart my adulthood, I nearly threw it all away—and learned a brutal lesson about corporate loyalty along the way.…
There’s a lot of political talk these days about welfare and being “on the dole.” Well, I have a welfare mother at my door every single day. She’s bold enough to walk right up to the patio door, even interrupting Thanksgiving dinner by begging from my family and friends.…
My senior year of high school was when I decided I wanted to be a professional athletic trainer. Back then, trainers weren’t really a thing at the high school level, but I had a knack for it. And since my knees were already a mess, it felt like a great way to stay connected to sports without being on the field.…
Since moving to Wyoming, I’ve developed some interesting friendships—one of the first happened completely by accident.
The “accident” was a young crow that got stuck in my window well and couldn’t get out. He flapped and flailed with everything he had but just couldn’t gSince moving Wyoming I have developed some interesting friendships.…
Celebrity endorsements have been around forever, but I’ve always had this lingering question: do the celebrities actually use the products they endorse? And how hard do they work to avoid using the competition?
Back in the 1980s, I saw a master of marketing pull off a slick move with the stealth of a ninja.…
I was the new kid a lot growing up. Ft. Logan, Harder Rd., Sunset, Allen, Harrington, and Vivian—those were all the elementary schools I attended. Making friends and feeling like part of the school community? That was tough. Like most kids, I just wanted to belong, to be noticed.…
Traveling along I-70 through Denver is a bit of a sensory adventure. To the west, you’ve got the majesty of the Rockies; to the east, the sweeping openness of the Great Plains. The highway winds through a patchwork of neighborhoods—diverse, storied, and full of character, reflecting the deep history of the Denver metro area.…
Neighborhood used to mean something powerful in a lot of cultures. For a while in the late sixties, I lived near Harrington Elementary in Denver. There’s a new Harrington now, but back then it was this beautiful, three-story brick building at 38th and Steele Street.…
Relationships are complicated, and sometimes changes happen so gradually that we don’t even notice them. I had this experience with a friend at Rangeview.
Bobby was a custodian at Rangeview and had been there almost since the beginning in 1982. He was a fixture, the institutional memory of the school.…
Allen Elementary was a fun school to attend. I had great teachers, memorable experiences, and it was the place where I had my first crush and won my first championship. They may have been the victories of a second and third grader, but they were milestones nonetheless.…
The years I spent working at the Royal Fork gave me a great opportunity to understand business and what it takes to be successful. We also got to see firsthand how businesses supported each other, strengthening the local economy. It was in this spirit that my fellow dishwashers and I started helping out at the doughnut shop across Colfax.…
Back in the 1960s, some vaccinations happened at school. I have a vivid memory of my first experience with this. We were completely unsuspecting, unprepared for what was about to happen.
Miss Kenealy lined us up and marched us to the cafeteria.…
Small moments in life can have a huge impact. Looking back, I realize that many of my interests and passions were sparked by events that might seem insignificant to others. Theatre, for example, became a major part of my life—first in high school and later when I taught at Rangeview.…
Project Lead The Way (PLTW) has been a big part of my teaching and my life for the last fifteen years. One of the best parts of my experience with PLTW has been the Summit conferences. Over the years, these events have evolved—there was a time when they held one big conference, then they transitioned to smaller regional events, and now they alternate between a large conference every other year and an off-year event called Masterminds.…
I believe that as we grow up, life gives us signals about what we should be doing. The key is to pay attention. Sometimes, those signals come later in life. My last fifteen years of teaching were spent in computer science, cybersecurity, and engineering.…
Royal Fork Buffet was my first “official” job when I was sixteen. Jerry Caven started the chain in 1967 in Idaho, and they had several locations in the Denver metro area. There were two in Lakewood—one on West Colfax and one on Alameda.…
Allen Elementary was a small school in San Bruno, California. I wasn’t there for very long, but a couple of experiences deeply impacted me and set the tone for my education moving forward. It’s often the little things that stick with kids the most, shaping them in ways they never forget.…
Pitching pennies has been a childhood pastime for generations. The rules are simple: whoever lands their penny closest to the wall—or even better, gets a “leaner”—wins. A group of kids would play, and the winner took all the pennies. It seemed like just another harmless schoolyard game.…
When I started teaching, I had the misconception that my point of view was the most important thing in the classroom. But the longer I taught, the more I realized that my perspective was just one part of the classroom culture—not the driving force.…
Conflict is inevitable in a classroom. It’s a small space with 30 students and a teacher trying to teach while maintaining order. Sometimes, students will get on the teacher’s bad side over minor things. I found myself in one of these conflicts back in junior high.…
We moved a lot when I was a kid. Because of that, I made a conscious decision that when I had children, they wouldn’t have to move if I could help it. My daughter lived in an apartment for five years and then in the same house until she left for college.…
Living in a small town has its perks, but there are definitely some drawbacks. Take my time in Lewistown, Montana, for example. I went through my first divorce there, and since Montana is a no-fault state, as long as everything was worked out, signed, and submitted, neither party had to show up in court.…
I’ve always tried to live my life in a way that minimizes contact with authorities. However, managing stores for Woolworths inevitably brought me into contact with local police. In the mid-’80s, there was a bit of a crime problem in the neighborhood where I worked, specifically at the Montview store in Aurora.…
People often reminisce about their first job, and the memories associated with it vary widely. Some cherish the experience, while others resent the time spent in that role. Many, however, find themselves in the middle, holding both positive and negative memories.
Working for a decade at the Woolworth Corporation gave rise to a plethora of captivating anecdotes. Amid numerous opportunities to bolster the company and foster customer loyalty, none proved as potent as the art of price-matching. However, amidst these tactics, there were occasional encounters with customers who harbored unfeasible expectations.…
This is the completion of my official retirement blog. I did exactly what I said I would do. I have a story for every student contact day. I will be branching out a little bit because I still have many stories to share.…
The Beach Boys’ song Graduation Day is fitting for the last week of the school year.
Another good song: Graduation by Vitamin C
My wish for the kids by Lee Ann Womack
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If you know my daughter, please don’t tell her I wrote this story about her in high school. All children lie to their parents a little. No matter how virtuous they are there is a fib here and there. My child is no different.…
We are in our last week of instruction. This is a time I reflect on what went well and what needs changing for next year. This year I don’t have to plan for next year so I will take time to reflect on thirty years.…
These 2 songs were important during my years of high school. We always looked to be free and so we sang Freebird a lot. The other one for this week is the song played by every high school student sing its release in 1972.…
The is nothing more sacred to a teacher than the opportunity to use the restroom. We hold it dear and do not want anything disturbing our routines. When I got to Rangeview I was in my early 40s and was one of the younger people in our area.…
When I look at my last year of high school for the second time, I get nostalgic about my life. I tend to remember the things from my first trip through high school. It was not the joyous romp that is often portrayed.…
Bantering with students is a way that teachers make connections with students. I think I have used many catchphrases over the years and some take on a life of their own. It culminated years ago in one of my students creating a poster of things I was not allowed to say anymore.…
The escapades with my hair continue. A few years after the leg waxing incident, I decided to do another homecoming hair challenge. I knew that the legs were off-limits this time and so I went with shaving my head bald. The good news is that after every time I have done this, it has grown back.…
One of the fun activities in high school is the annual homecoming. As a teacher, I felt it was my responsibility to participate and show the students the value of school spirit. I mentioned the dress-up days previously but I want to highlight getting deeply into the spirit.…
This story is reported from my perspective and memory. I know people have had other experiences so I am speaking just for myself. There are students that have a huge impact on their teachers but not many transcend as much as our theatre spirit.…
I want to take some time and do some stories from my years in theatre and performing arts. I mentioned very early in this blog that I got into the Theatre Department because the principal in my interview talked about the activities I did in high school.…
Working with umpires is a delicate balance between diplomacy and losing your mind. I need to say that the overwhelming majority of the umpires we have had were outstanding and did their job well. There were times that I didn’t agree with them but that is to be expected in a game.…
This will be my last post about the German Exchange for a while. This one I am writing this one now instead of using a previously published story.
Relationships are the most cherished memories from the exchange. The friends I have made make me long for a return visit.…
Of the trips I have taken, this was the hardest day. We went to the Struthof Concentration camp. Prisoners here worked at a quarry about a kilometer away. The post was short but the pictures were more powerful. I have added a link to the website for further information.…
I love to walk and enjoy nature and sites. I was to learn that a walk in Germany means something completely different. Here is a post I did in 2009:
June 22, 2009, By: Randy Mills I was informed this morning of what is considered a short German walk.…
This is a post from the 2009 trip. It was a day in Strasbourg France. It hit all the right spots: food, international politics, and my fear of heights!
June 17, 2009 By: Randy Mills
Monday, June 15th found us in Strasbourg, France.…
We are getting to the end of the quarter and like the students, I am going to recycle some stuff. This is a post from our first German exchange talking about the school.
Our next big adventure was to attend school with the students.…
As an American teacher, I am used to having an office for my job. I loved my desk in the business office and it was a place to relax and not be stressed for a short time. It was very important until it was taken from us a couple of years ago.…
The relationships you develop over the course of an exchange are lasting. Dawn and I have developed a relationship with our German counterparts over fifteen years. It is a bond that goes beyond just partners for academic activity. We have spent a great deal of time with many teachers over the years but we have a family that we are especially close to and have contact with until this day.…
I am going to start doing some stories from our part of exchanges at Rangeview. Bud Blauer & Patrice Dovas-Hudson had very strong programs. Bud had a school in Kazakhstan to support the Russian language program. I loved having the students in my classroom every year and as a result, I received one of the most prized souvenirs of my teaching career.…