Walt Bio

Walt graduated from BGSU with a Bachelors degree in Secondary
Education-Comprehensive Social Studies in 1992 and from the
University of Toledo with a Masters degree in School Counseling in
2005. He has worked as a high school Social Studies teacher and
varsity coach in the Toledo area for the past 16 years (15 years at Clay
HS in Oregon, OH).

As a coordinator of Clay High School's Intervention Assistance Team
since 1995, Walt helps to set-up interventions for students who are
considered "at-risk" due to academic, behavioral or emotional
difficulties. These interventions can be behavioral/academic contracts,
conflict mediations or short term individual/group counseling sessions
designed to remediate difficulties and advance students towards
graduation and overall school success. It is with this goal in mind that
he initiated a World Studies Skills Development class into the Clay HS
course offerings in 2004. This class better prepares all students for
high school success by offering intensive practice in basic academic
skills such as reading, writing, organization/time management and
goal-setting.

In 1995, Walt initiated an elective Social Issues class designed to
promote a greater awareness of the issues many teens face during the
stressful time of adolescence. With time and cooperative school
administrators, Social Issues evolved into a highly experiential class
intending to not only promote awareness, but initiate projects that
promote healthier interaction between people as well. This Social
Issues class continues to be a place where participants feel safe to
discuss stressful life "issues" while developing various class projects
to extend the classroom experience into the school/community.
Projects such as sponsoring a 5K run/walk to promote healthy
addiction alternatives (attended by nearly 400 students), class field
trips to interact with more racially diverse school populations, and a
lunchtime MIX IT UP program (associated with a nationwide effort of
the Teaching Tolerance organization to break down social barriers)
have been important additions to the Social Issues experience.

In 2006, Walt was introduced to the Challenge Day program.
Challenge Day's Notice-Choose-Act formula, challenging participants
to change the way they interact and "show up" for each other, was a
perfect compliment to his ever-evolving Social Issues curriculum. He
began coordinating school Challenge Days and Be the Change club
activities while increasing his personal involvement with the Northwest
Ohio Circle of Change. Most recently he coordinated a Freshmen
Orientation designed to challenge 350 freshmen to create a "New and
Improved" high school experience; and continues to coordinate a
school-wide Eagle Link program involving over 1300 participants (all
students and staff) inviting them to build healthy connections with each
other by exploring various school relevant topics/themes during
scheduled monthly programs. Walt remains a passionate believer in
the Be the Change message/movement, infusing many of these ideas
into his personal interactions with others in addition to his professional
interactions with young people as a teacher, coach, counselor and Be
the Change school coordinator.