Lynn was the principal at Dalewood Jr. High School in the same suburban area. Under his leadership, Dalewood developed a growing reputation for innovation, particularly in the area of flexible scheduling. Lynn became a faculty member at the University of Virginia and was widely regarded for his work in developing block scheduling, grading, and assisting school districts in school improvement initiatives.
I don’t recall exactly when Lynn contacted me—perhaps it was a result of the Kappan interview—but regardless, he invited me to present to a group of public school administrators and teachers at the University of Virginia. Lynn had created a consortium between Virginia school districts and the university through which the university would assist districts in school improvement efforts, especially by arranging for a variety of presenters on school and instructional improvement topics.
Called the School Improvement Program (or SIP), the basic idea was that it would be more cost effective for each participating district to pay a rather small membership fee and have access to a number of presenters throughout the year than each district bearing the costs of bringing speakers to their individual districts. It was through his efforts, such as the SIP initiative, as well as his willingness to assist districts himself, that Lynn became highly respected in Virginia. And, through this work—and his writing—Lynn developed a highly regarded national reputation.
After my first visit to the University of Virginia, Lynn invited me to work with him and numerous districts in Virginia, particularly in the valley that ran from Bristol, Tennessee, to Roanoke, Virginia. Through my work with Lynn, I consulted in Winchester, Virginia, on occasion. Interestingly, my work in Winchester led me to become acquainted with a former superintendent of the district who had retired and become an executive with one of the largest concrete manufacturing companies in Virginia, the Shockey Precast Group.
We enjoyed each other’s company very much, and he decided the Shockey Precast Group could benefit from the concepts that were the focus of my work in Winchester—building an organizational culture through focused, collaboratively developed mission, vision, values, and goals. I had dinner with the owner of the company and the top executives, which led to my consulting with the company on a number of occasions and eventually being asked to present at the annual meeting of the Virginia Concrete Association.
I mention this not only because it was a great experience and I met some wonderful people but also because it was the first time I realized that the work Rick and I were doing, and the ideas we were talking and writing about, were applicable to organizations in general. Through the years, Rick and I were asked to speak to quite a few corporate executives and business groups.
The larger point is this: these experiences, which broadened my thinking and enhanced my confidence, would not have happened if Lynn Canady had not invited me to work with him at the University of Virginia. More important, Lynn and I would not have met, become friends, and remained so for the next forty years or so. I am much indebted to and thankful for Lynn Canady.
As I’ve noted, through my association with the Institute for Research on Teaching, I became friends with Larry Lezotte. While most of the time I spent at the institute was with Judy Lanier or researchers such as Jere Brophy, Larry usually sat in on meetings, and he was also nice enough to drive Jim Huffman and me to and from the airport. Little did I know that Larry and I would become friends and spend considerable time together in the next phase of my professional journey—more about that in the next chapter.
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