When a Superintendent of a School District Welcomes Your Work with Enthusiasm, How Does It Feel?
It feels great. Especially when it’s my book, Drayton Hall Stories: A Place and Its People.
Today I met with Joe Pye, superintendent of Dorchester 2 School District, whom I knew. We didn’t miss a beat. He glanced through my book, read sections of it, saw its uses in schools, and called Kristin Powers, the district’s social studies supervisor, to join us. Also with us was Matthew Kenwright, public information officer.
Ideas abounded as often happens when good teachers put their heads together. Joe knows my wife, Mary Sue McDaniel, a former District 2 teacher, and declared that when she was born, God called her to teach, which, I think, is true. She’s a natural.
Joe saw that a former teacher in his district, Lorraine White, is in the book. She’s a descendant of Drayton Hall, and both Lorraine and her father offered stories that could be used to touch students in the classroom. Joe had fine things to say about Lorraine and observed that she too was called to teach – in her case, to use her musical gifts, especially her remarkable voice.
Good suggestions were made, and Joe invited me to speak before all the principals in the district when they gather on April 26. He said he wanted to give each a book, and wanted a signed copy for himself.
Twas a good afternoon, wasn’t it?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
George W. McDaniel, Ph.D., is President of McDaniel Consulting, LLC, a strategy firm that helps organizations use history to build bridges within itself and to its broader constituents. The company’s tag line, “Building Bridges through History,” is grounded in McDaniel’s personal beliefs and his experience in site management, preservation, education, board development, fundraising, and community outreach. Rather than using history to divide us, he strives to help organizations use history, especially local history, to enhance cross-cultural understanding and to support local museums, preservation, and education. Dr. McDaniel led volunteer efforts with Emanuel AME Church and historical organizations in Charleston to use historic preservation to enhance racial reconciliation and healing. McDaniel is also the Executive Director Emeritus of Drayton Hall, a historic site in Charleston, SC, owned by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. He retired from Drayton Hall in 2015 after 25 years of distinguished service.
