Caleb Bardin

Feature Story
03-15-2017
MWF 10:10
Word Count: 695

A Life in Education

The education system is what molds our nations youth and the leaders of the

future. Dr. John E. Wilson has dedicated over 34 years of his life to education in Texas.

Over that time, he has held several positions within individual schools and districts. He

was a teacher at the high school and collegiate level, a principal and a superintendent of

four different school districts in Texas. Wilson joined the Baylor University faculty in

2010, and he is now the program director for the doctor of education in K-12 educational

leadership. The majority of Wilsons life has been dedicated to education. I love to work

with people and solve problems within communities, he said.

Given his long history in the education system, one may assume that Wilson has

spent his whole adult life working in education. However, this is not the case. Wilson

grew up with, and still has today, a passion for music. He attended Baylor and obtained a

masters degree in music theory and his teaching certificate. Shortly after graduation he

was obligated to serve in the Vietnam War. Once he completed his mandatory service, he

returned home to his wife and immediately began looking for work. He decided to forgo

a career in music and pursued a career in public education.

He started out as a high school teacher and worked his way up to superintendent

of a school district, which entailed working with all kinds of people including students,

parents and government officials. There were many complicated problems that came

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along with this job, he said. After solving these many difficult problems, Wilson looks

back and says, In life doors will close, and it is up to you to open another one.

He says there will be times in life when difficult problems arise, and the solution

may not be clear at first. This is when you have to look outside of the box and try to come

up with a new and creative solution. This is something Wilson did several times as a

superintendent in Amarillo and Clear Creek.

Wilson was superintendent of the Amarillo Independent School District while

schools were in the middle of becoming desegregated. Wilson recalled this as being a

very sensitive time between races. During this time, the district needed a new high school

due to overcapacities in the current high schools. However, there were not adequate funds

to open another school. The district suggested fundraising within the community for the

funds. That option would have gotten us slaughtered in the community, he said. After

declining to ask the community for the funds, Wilson did not know where to turn next.

Then out of the blue Wilson received a call from T. Boone Pickens, a businessman worth

hundreds of millions of dollars and an Amarillo native. He said he was sending down Bill

Cosby to do a comedy show as a fundraiser. The show earned the district more than

$200,000 and the school was opened.

There were also problems present while Wilson was superintendent in Clear

Creek. This district found itself in need of 30 acres of land to open a new intermediate

school. The district first asked the University of Houston if they had any available land,

and they did not. After weeks of searching it was beginning to look as if they were all out

of options. All Wilson could think of as a last resort was calling the Johnson Space Center

in Houston, Texas. Even though Wilson thought he was chasing a dead rabbit trail.

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Wilson ended up contacting space center Director George Abbey, who informed him that

they did indeed have land available. The land grant was then approved by Washington

D.C, and the intermediate school was built.

These are just two of many examples of when Wilson had to overcome adversity

to reach a solution to a problem. Both show the hard and persistent work that is required

to overcome obstacles that occur in life. According to Wilson, when approaching a

problem, always play until your final card, then start looking for another card if you

must.