Coach Bill / Dad, Entrepreneur Special Educator, American Political Scientist, Writer, Musician.

Jacai Colson was twenty eight years old. A very young man doing his duty as a police officer. Four years he served his  Landover, Maryland community serving and protecting with his presence. He was murdered yesterday for no reason. A man came up to Officer Colson's police station and opened fire. There was no announcement. There was no reason given. Neither men knew each other. Down went Officer Colson. His fellow colleagues stormed out of the station and opened fire on the gunman wounding him but sparing his life. That is it. Life goes on. Another officer shot dead. Another man serving us and protecting us gunned down. His family, friends and co-workers left in bewildered shock. He is no more on earth.  Twenty eight is so young. He lived with purpose. He woke up everyday to serve people like you and me, regardless of your opinion of him.  What do we call that kind of service? I believe we call that  unconditional love. Do you know what that i...

(updated 12/22/15) Behaving as if all that matters is profit, as if we are on our own, an island, let me get mine and you get yours, that this is a race of some kind were money is king and lord over our hearts and minds.  That is a sorry life. A sad life straight out of William Randolph Hearst’s life as portrayed in Orson Welles’s classic masterpiece film, ‘Citizen Kane.’  In a world beholden to growth through monetary profit, as it is for all companies on the stock markets of the world, what messages do we send each other and the community when we make money lord over common sense? How much money is enough? How much financial security shall we shore up for ourselves? This post is not about taking from the rich and giving to the poor. It is about how we conduct ourselves in relation to others. It is about what we allow to drive us as we seek to live life. Do these ‘drivers’ benefit our hearts and minds, do they benefit the community? Are we not free to live our ...

Duke Kahanamoku, a Hawaiian and an Olympic swimming champion was also the number one ambassador for surfing in the world and his home base was Waikiki Beach in Honolulu. This was between the 1920's and 40's. Duke knit a collective of surfer that would take tourists out to catch waves on the giant long boards. It was the first time many ever get presented with such a foreign experience as 'surfing' a wave of water. In surfing, the experience one gets when a natural element like water is pushing them along brings a state of unique rest and contentment. You have to do it to know what it's truly like. Skateboarding parallels in many ways the feeling of surfing. Like surfing and dancing, skateboarding is an effective, practical tool and strategy as an early education/ intervention methods for typical children and those on the autism spectrum, with executive function skill deficits or any other special need or disability. Skateboarding requires focus and sustai...

They sprayed bullets indiscriminately. There were people in pain on the floor with blood  gushing out. There needs to be a more well-rounded approach to how we maintain the threads that keep this country together.     They left the baby with the grandma and decided to take care of business by killing people who belonged to families also.  They had a mind and heart set.  They had an infant. What will happen to that infant of theirs? If  parents were killed in the massacre, how will the surviving families deal  with  the raising of the children. How can the community help? How can community be ready to help each other when families are ripped apart? This affects everyone and apparently the attacks can happen anywhere. How do we change elements on the ground to change the landscape?  Can we meet negative disruption with the wheel of positive disruption? Social entrepreneurship can be love in action when done righ...

Cutting red table, bureaucratic policy and top-down approval in order to move full-steam ahead is easy when one is starting from scratch. Being able to lead successfully while keeping everybody on board is a chess game though. In order to pull it off, I decentralized myself as the primary leader from the very start and looked to do what I do very well as a teacher…establish and build relationships by empowering those I work with to lead in their own right. This is servant leadership. I serve the team. Starting up an organization such as the Scalzi Skate Crew is doing can be likened to a circus performance. Though the announcer may be the most vocal, it is the performers that make the show with their actions. In this instance, I am also a performer, yet my skateboarding agility is far surpassed by seasoned locals who pull-off incredible aerials and flip-a-ma-doogies (I made that up). Each player plays a pivotal part, and we have new players coming on-board with initiatives th...

(Updated 11/27/15 2:40 pm) Did you know that Scalzi Skatepark in Stamford is actually called a ‘flow’ park?  That’s a skatepark that has both a a street course and a skating bowl in the same location and having both skating ‘style of segments’ easy flow from one on to the other. At Scalzi, we have two tremendously awesome skate bowls and yet, the ‘street course’ venue is truncated and demure …off to the side sort of. Currently, I am working on landing an ‘ollie?’ I grew up surfing long-boards and not trick skating so I am nowhere near as great on the board as most others at the park, but I have come a long way in just the three months I have been practicing at their. Others do ollies AND kick the board flipping it once or twice in the air as they seemingly hover above it placidly before they land back confidently on it again. Creating independent operating systems tied to a common goal Chris and Brian, are two operating systems within the context of our common ...

edited 11/18/15 ;) My graduate degree is in Special Education, my bachelor’s degree is in Political Science.  As an entrepreneur educator, delivering practical, natural solutions that empowers a student or group of students is in my best interest as a performance-based teacher. Amongst other things, this means creating or putting forth natural, rapid and practical interventions that not only address topical, surface concerns, but reach the crux of the matter. This strategy is the lifeblood of my coaching work. Why so? Well, delivering stellar results in breathtaking speed is what good business is all about. As I go about in completing my business plan to start my first non-profit organization called ‘Just Life Skills,’ I have outlined my mission statement in such way that it transcends my work as a clinical educator and allows for a plentitude of projects which I have in mind to be fomented and funded. These include my work with children and adults on the autism spectru...

I t was made clear to me last night in the darkness of Scalzi skatepark in Stamford, Connecticut why there is hesitancy to bring in night lights. “The crowds it would bring…” I realized that the skatepark would be inundated with people from far-flung places. As skateparks go, Scalzi is definitely not top-of-the-line, yet it is one of the best in the region along with the one in New York City just outside of Chelsea piers.  Last night I stayed longer than usual and saw the park transform, and not for the better. A small crowd of middle school boys and girls drinking, smoking and going into the bushes.   I remember picking up used condom wrappers outside the skatepark fence, leaflets talking about the spread of AIDS and I wondered what would happen to them if they were pushed out and a new crowd would come in. Where would these kids go? What would happen to them? Surely, they would find some other place to party and unwind. So I stayed a bit longer in the darknes...

Raising energy  requires consistency.  Maintaining momentum  requires clear working purpose.  Moving hearts to impact minds  requires talent. In the world of sports, such thoughts are always on the forefront of a coach's mindset. She understands that the inside affects the outside, and the outside affects the inside. Aware of this, a great coach is also a mentor to her players. Her attitude gives direct and indirect expectation cues to the player's, hence (SunTzu time) it is vital that the coach protect, direct and develop herself just as the players are doing so. Cary Lee Williams is one such coach.  Recently, I had the fortune to interview, Mrs. Williams. Amongst other titles and hats, she is an entrepreneur, a boxing coach, a mentor, and is the founder of a clothing line called, Never Too Pretty. She is well-known in the boxing world as industrious, a go-getter, and because of her incredible drive, she is also known ...

The growth of a person cannot be lopsided. Inner and outer growth has to be balanced for optimal results. Working with a mindset that everything is possible, I meet my students in a place where there are no limits. Usually, I am always at this location first and then guide in (beam in) my student. With the right approach, a great coach can move a student quickly far beyond what they ever dreamed of once mindsets are shifted. Progress in skateboarding exemplifies this.  Like most endeavors, 'success' springs forward with practice, dedication and commitment. Not just committing to skate, but committing to moving beyond a present skill level. Thus, the mindset is not, "I want to do awesome skateboarding and get really good at it." No, the mindset is, if I just keep at it, little by little, one day at a time, before long I will move across the skill continuum to become a skilled boarder. Skateboarding is engaging and demands mental acumen to be proficient or grea...