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| "LLAP." Leonard Nimoy. |
This is a personal blog. Thoughts here are my own. Informal writing here and I take responsibility for all mistakes ; )
You can find me here as well:
You can find me here as well:
What I Do
AP Consulting LLC
30 years of experience I've gathered as an IT Administrator and Director, full-time teacher, non-profit and education leader, College Adjunct, conference developer and emcee, Adult PD Leader, Marketing and Branding professional, presenter, consultant and coach is all intertwined into two philosophies:
Keep moving forward...
and
Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble. Rep. John Lewis, 1940-2020
I strive to make people curious to learn more, find solutions, and explore new boundaries beyond present needs. That work can stir things up.
The Consulting, Projects, and Testimonials pages via the menu, and also the posts here, speak to the work I've done over the years and thoughts therein.
Thanks for tuning in.
Adam
What's Up? - A Blurb on Just That
It's an important update, a tale of trying to surf a tidal wave corruption and incompetence in the workplace.It's not something I take lightly, writing this, but it's necessary as this tale called my character and professionalism in question publicly to some extent.
In the Fall of 2016 I accepted an invitation to serve as Interim Director for one year to rejuvenate a failing VT Technical Education Center. I was charged with and led efforts to overhaul the main office staff, build new marketing and branding initiatives (web, print and social media) and integrated facility renovations. Mission accomplished, and along the way led efforts to implement three new academic programs, authored and implemented an award-winning grant to build an interdisciplinary makerspace. All these efforts paid off with a 25% gain in enrollment - in one year.
Restructuring a failing school on numerous levels disrupts stagnation, provided people with professional opportunities and challenges, removed obstacles for innovation, and reallocates money. All that work therein can ruffle some feathers despite the best efforts to do it professionally and responsibly.
Along with these duties, I was leading this restructuring initiative and was asked to lead the District K-12 Strategic Technology plan, and sit on the Executive Committee for and upcoming campus renovation bid, and... while taking 9 graduate leadership program credits, and helping lead Statewide teacher professional development as the President of VITA-Learn, a non-profit leading adult professional development in education. It was all in tow and moving ahead in a positive direction, until....
Just after I was invited to sign on for another year to continue development, I was notified in a very odd and informal way that an anonymous accusation surfaced regarding my conduct.
What followed was six months of intense work and personal expense unraveling a thread of corruption and administrative and investigative incompetence. My counsel and peers agree that due process was violated along with my civil rights as the investigation began and carried on with no sense of discretion. In fact, no procedures were delivered to me, an investigation started based on a completely anonymous accusation, and I was asked to address the anonymous allegation. To top it all off, I discovered the investigator had a rather severe undisclosed conflict of interest in the case.
The district then went to greater lengths to protect its incompetence by threatening to go public with the anonymous accusation (if you can imagine) to force a separation settlement by saying "We feel compelled to find him guilty of anything possible at this point to protect ourselves," a quote, documented, that took some time to digest and is profoundly troubling on so many levels.
Finally, the investigation concluded with no finding of wrongful doing on my part, but my ability to continue in the role was completely undermined as was any desire to return to the position or the district thereafter. I chose to resign in January 2018.
Defending my reputation in public proved difficult as newspapers began to speculate the what and why of what happened, ruled by district 'leaks' to the press.
After reporting the sequence of these events 'up the chain', shortly thereafter, the Director of Human Resources at the district abruptly resigned. Shortly after that, as a result of how my debacle was handled and others, the Superintendent resigned one year early in his contract.
I'm proud of the work done and that the Center and District is in a much better place. They have plenty of development notes from the collaborative work we did to help with innovation into the next three years.
I decided took some time off to heal up mentally and physically and looked toward doing some consulting work again. That plan got disrupted a bit when it became necessary to help my mother as a caregiver, an extremely challenging and rewarding experience. Thereafter I decided to return to consulting work, a good fit during COVID19 times.
I'm rested and rejuvenated. These are challenging and very interesting times to think differently, to solve problems and open new doors. That's work I specialize in.
To all the folks who provided me counsel over thas period of time, esteemed peers in education and dear friends, my sincere thanks. To those who played it cautious, listening to doubt and innuendo without reaching out... I'm here, and listening ; ) Surviving it all... was not a walk in the park.
Keep moving forward. Good trouble. Necessary trouble. Much wiser.
AP