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

Sometimes we are happy and do not know it. Sometimes we are miserable and think we are okay. In the almost decade and a half that I have worked across the country I have stepped into all kinds of homes. I have entered homes in Boston, homes on O'ahu, homes in New York, Massachusetts and in Connecticut with humility and a desire to empower the child or children I'd be working with. It is always an honor to be tapped to work with someone or their child. A part of the coach's way goes into the student and a part of the student goes into the coach. Well, what I have found is that being 'happy' has nothing to do with being financially rich. Some of the happiest people I have known have almost nothing and some of the most discontented people have.. it seems... everything. Having had had everything materially and financially as a young child and then seeing it all disappear  was an eye-opener for myself. I am able to reflect on the cohesiveness and life of my fam...

If everyone is special then everyone is similar and then ‘special’ is not so special anymore. Special denotes a separation, a distinction from the norm. It is not average. With that in mind, are there people who are special? As the seasoned learner knows well, inherent talent and genes, perhaps our socio-economic platform in life all may serve up advantages setting the stage to easing the ability to be ‘specialized’ in something, like a trade, a craft or a unique ability.     Becoming very effective and efficient at something while being able to smoothly adapt to changing ground conditions is a special trait that can be flexed and made muscular according to practice. The more we stick at doing something, especially if we are passionate about it, the more we move into that specialized territory.  Recently, I was perfecting a basic skateboarding ollie (which I managed to do over and over again), yet Brian, who has been practicing street course skating far l...

Every morning, rain or shine, Dad would make wake me up with his awesome trumpet as if I was in the armed forces with him. He would also play ‘Taps’ every evening to put me to sleep along with his ukelele. In the morning, it was always like 5:22 am. He’d walk me to the shower where I would proceed to fall asleep standing up on the towel rack. At 5:28 he would come back in and motion for me to take my shower. Afterwards, all bright eyed and bushy tailed with lot’s of chirpiness coming from him we would do something called ‘calisthenics’ for the longest 20 minutes ever as I was subjected to the news channel, followed by a 5 mile run. Depending on where we lived, sometimes the run started uphill. It was loads of fun. Halfway through each run we would sprint, usually uphill also and then we would stop to pray and give thanks to God.  Who stops in the middle of their run to pray? But we did. Year after year. I prayed in my own words as a young boy named Billy, not as a Bill. My D...

Having the right to bear arms is a constitutional right and an important one. Dad owned a 357 Magnum and a PPK Walter which I got to fire both with him at a shooting range once under strict oversight by him. The blowback on a 357 Magnum is powerful. It is scary. He always put them back in a lockbox with the bullets unloaded and hid it far away from our reach. A gun is quite a weapon. The use of it can and does bring a finality to things. Dad always took care to emphasize the level of safety and responsibility to have with a gun. He was well acquainted with weapons, having been part of special force units for the U.S. Marines and the U.S. Army., as a 101st Airborne Ranger. He parachuted into over 300 countries as a paratrooper. His learning and experience qualified him to handle weapons. Again, having the right to bear arms is a constitutional right and an important one. But should their be a better vetting process for the purchase of guns and large weaponry, like machine gu...

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...

What happens when we come together under a common goal of social responsibility for each other? Where does apathy run off to? How can an organization of leaders be led successfully? How does the growth mindset play into best business practices and is it possible to run an organization where no one gets paid at first? It started with naturally developing the executive function skills of the students I work with. Movement therapy is part of my instructional tool and strategy kit and is a tremendous approach to achieving increasing degrees of independence. For a child on the autism spectrum, one with down syndrome, or simply one with mild attentional deficits, context activities for movement therapy that I use are dancing and skateboarding. With the passage of time, these two core activities used in many (not all) of my sessions also provide a backdrop for some real-world skills which need constant toning. These are the ‘soft skills’ that are seldom understood or acknowle...