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The FOGHORN
ROTARY CLUB OF HALF MOON BAY
November 29, 2018
SHOP TALK by JASON OWENS
Article by Bill Johnston
Photos by EJ Dieterle
Jason Owens, EdS LPC NCC ESPN DEA NPR QVC. With that many letters after his name, is it any surprise he is still dealing with student loan debt?
Jason has been a preschool teacher; elementary school teacher in K, one, two and five; a special education teacher (autism); an art teacher; an academic counselor; a university guest lecturer; a crisis counselor; a mental health counselor; a program administrator; an assistant principal; principal; adult education administrator and, now, Director of pupil and personnel services.
Originally from Detroit, he spent his first 30 years in Michigan. In 2010 he sold his house and everything and drove to California where he rented a dining room in the City and slept on a mattress under the table. And when that got cold, he move the mattress to the “loft” which was the top of the table. San Francisco unified hired him as the program administrator for college, high school and post secondary reform. That position required him to visit 100 different schools in 108 days to address college and career issues. San Francisco rules prevented him from becoming a building administrator if he had not previously been some other kind of administrator and thus promotional opportunities were limited. He became the assistant principal at Visitation Valley Middle School which served an impoverished population and featured four public housing buildings adjacent to the campus.He describes stepping in between gangs And eventually he developed such a good relationship with the local gangs that when his car was keyed In the Mission, gangsters collected his car, had it detailed and returned with a note that said your car is always safe with us. He followed that tour of duty with the position as the principal of a Cantonese immersion school in North Beach where he experienced what it is like to be an ESL student since he couldn’t understand half of what was said around him. He was surprised to find the poverty level was double that of the Visitation Valley school.
Jason has been a preschool teacher; elementary school teacher in K, one, two and five; a special education teacher (autism); an art teacher; an academic counselor; a university guest lecturer; a crisis counselor; a mental health counselor; a program administrator; an assistant principal; principal; adult education administrator and, now, Director of pupil and personnel services.
Originally from Detroit, he spent his first 30 years in Michigan. In 2010 he sold his house and everything and drove to California where he rented a dining room in the City and slept on a mattress under the table. And when that got cold, he move the mattress to the “loft” which was the top of the table. San Francisco unified hired him as the program administrator for college, high school and post secondary reform. That position required him to visit 100 different schools in 108 days to address college and career issues. San Francisco rules prevented him from becoming a building administrator if he had not previously been some other kind of administrator and thus promotional opportunities were limited. He became the assistant principal at Visitation Valley Middle School which served an impoverished population and featured four public housing buildings adjacent to the campus.He describes stepping in between gangs And eventually he developed such a good relationship with the local gangs that when his car was keyed In the Mission, gangsters collected his car, had it detailed and returned with a note that said your car is always safe with us. He followed that tour of duty with the position as the principal of a Cantonese immersion school in North Beach where he experienced what it is like to be an ESL student since he couldn’t understand half of what was said around him. He was surprised to find the poverty level was double that of the Visitation Valley school.
He took a position as a mental health counselor at the University of Mississippi with the trade off being they would give him a PhD. He found himself guest lecturing on cross cultural and gay and lesbian counseling. The students and the community were less than accepting. Perhaps some of the principles that he was espousing were inconsistent with fundamentalist ideology. In any event, some nine months later he found himself back in the dining room in San Francisco. He ran a chocolate shop in the city for a year.
Half Moon Bay offered him a position as the administrator of the adult education program. He was very excited to be involved in a program where all of the students were there because they wanted to be. When the posting came up for director of pupil and personnel services, It was kismet since he had just discovered something he had written years earlier expressing his ultimate career goal as director of pupil and personnel services. He finds the position to be something like being a crisis counselor (his favorite past career) but he is addressing every problem above a building level.
He told us to pay attention, have fun, learn, be humble, repeat. And he said, “tough times don’t last but tough people do”.
Half Moon Bay offered him a position as the administrator of the adult education program. He was very excited to be involved in a program where all of the students were there because they wanted to be. When the posting came up for director of pupil and personnel services, It was kismet since he had just discovered something he had written years earlier expressing his ultimate career goal as director of pupil and personnel services. He finds the position to be something like being a crisis counselor (his favorite past career) but he is addressing every problem above a building level.
He told us to pay attention, have fun, learn, be humble, repeat. And he said, “tough times don’t last but tough people do”.
NOVEMBER 29, 2018 CLUB MEETING
Article by Dwight Wilson
Photos by EJ Dieterle
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President Paul Wrubel opened the meeting and asked Bill Johnston to lead the club in the Pledge of Allegiance:
Greeters: Kevin O’Brien (past president) and Rosie Fontana (sergeant of arms and past president) greeted the members today.
Inspirational Thought: Rosi thanked everyone for their presence, the weather for the rain, and for everyone being here.
Paul distributed the pig and polio jar. Paul announced that a vaccine that does not require refrigeration has been developed.
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PAUL HARRIS AWARD
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Kevin O’Brien and Dave Andrews gave a Paul Harris award to Ed Daniels. Ed received his second pin for donating a total of $2000.
Ed Daniels announced there will be a brief meeting of the International Committee at the end of today’s meeting.
WRUBY AWARDS
Paul gave the Wruby Award to: 1) Dianne Bobko as the wounded warrior who came to work her shift at Abundant Grace monthly breakfast for the underserved and to Stacy Trevenon for coming in as well even though she was not feeling well.
Announcements
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Paul introduced Krystlyn Giedt, the new CEO of the Chamber of Commerce and congratulated the Chamber for being the first corporate membership. Paul complimented Krystlyn as a dynamo who has brought lots of energy to the Chamber.
Steve Wilson announced he has tickets to the Big Game (Stanford/Cal) and is available to the highest bidder.
Magic is coming up on May 4, and Paul requested anyone with suggestions to get them to Paul as soon as possible.
Warren Barmore announced he did not feel like making dinner the other night, then he found 3 cans of the chowder we used for the Pumpkin festival and bingo he had dinner. More cans are available for sale for $10.
Happy NewsJohn Evans reported Lukas, our Exchange Student, celebrated his 18th birthday. The Mill family gave him a party as the 18th birthday is a big deal in his home country of Germany. Steve Wilson reported that Lukas fell in love with F250 6.7l diesel at the car show.
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John also reported that Fie, our exchange student from 2014/15 from Denmark, will be visiting us at the meeting on the 20th of December.
Ginger Child-Minoletti will not be at our meeting next week as she and Kevin will be celebrating his birthday in Mexico.
Rosie Fontana reported she had a major leak in her home and the plumber came quickly to fix it.
Steve Wilson reports he is getting better by the day.
Paul Wrubel announced that Jane Yuster, Superintendent of the Cabrillo Unified School District will be speaking at next week’s meeting.
REMINDERS
Our Monthly Rotary Day at the Community Free Breakfast (held at the Lutheran Church will be Wednesday, DECEMBER 26. Please sign up with ROSE SERDY for a shift for future days (last Wednesday of each month.)
PHOTO GALLERY
