The Cliff Notes Intro of Kevin Miller

My intro got crazy long; here are the highlights!

As I prepared my author introduction for Medium readers, and more specifically ILLUMINATION readers, I got a bit carried away. I chose not to compromise on what turned into a very valuable journey of self-discovery (or, I suppose, re-discovery) but I knew many readers would be reluctant to wade through all that. So, here is the abbreviated version.

I am a Baby Boomer and happy to admit it. I barely made the cut being born in 1963, but I accept being of that era. I also believe the only real difference between the various generations is age. Being a Boomer makes me old, but really tells you nothing else about me. And I honestly don’t consider myself old.

I’m still in the honeymoon phase with my incredible wife Katherine. We were just married 25 years ago, and I still get giddy every time I look at her. She, on the other hand, simply looks at me bewildered when I fawn over her. I believe she just thinks I’m nuts, and she is, of course, right.

Katherine and I have two sons. Samuel is 20 and just finished a degree in web development. Matthew is 17 and in 11th grade. They are very different people, and I am very proud of both. We have all been working or studying from home since March as has much of the rest of the country. Fortunately, we’ve each got a somewhat isolated space in which to work and mostly stay off each other’s nerves.

I have lived most of my life in the Madison, WI area with five years away at college and a couple years in Green Bay. I feel I had a rather stereotypical Midwest suburban upbringing. I had lots of friends to play with along with a lot of time spent at the library and pool, both just a couple blocks from my house.

I was a voracious reader from as early as I can remember with a particular fondness for The Hardy Boys and Jules Verne. I think my reading helped me write pretty well, and I was a good test taker. That allowed me to get my schoolwork done and get good grades without taking a lot of time (driving my sister crazy). That in turn gave me more free time to do what I wanted. I wasn’t a bad kid, but I went along with my friends on some questionable activities.

I really just went through the motions with school. I never questioned the need to attend because that’s what everyone had to do, but I never thought I was getting much out of all the time I spent there. Once in high school, I figured out how to “legitimately” miss a lot of school without any detriment to my learning. Looking back and recognizing that now has had a major influence on my work to reinvent education over the past few years.

Despite graduating with honors, I had no desire to attend college right after high school. Instead, I worked a few different jobs and spent most of my money on cars and my social life. After sowing my oats for four years, I was ready for college and had figured out I wanted to become an auto shop teacher. I took five years getting a teaching degree in technology education and English and taking advantage of countless non-academic college opportunities. That included my first writing job as a columnist for the school paper.

Since college, I have been a teacher (auto tech, graphic communications, and English), principal (middle and high school), director of career and technical education, education consultant, and writer. I worked in rural, suburban, and urban districts and found that none could adequately meet the full needs of any of their students.

Three and a half years ago I stopped working for others and struck out on my own to figure out how we can reinvent education to meet the needs of every child.

During my freshman year of college, I joined the Wisconsin Army National Guard to help pay for my schooling. I expected it to be a short-term commitment (if you can call eight years short-term), but I continue to serve after nearly 35 years. I was commissioned as an officer in 1995 and currently hold the rank of lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve.

My service has included being an infantryman, clerk, platoon leader, company commander, Officer Candidate School TAC Officer, marksmanship coordinator, team chief, area damage control officer, Brigade HQ Detachment Commander, Command and General Staff College (CGSC) Instructor, and CGSC director of instruction.

In 2008–09, I commanded a Police Mentor Team in Kunar Province, Afghanistan. That was the most rewarding experience of my military career. Nearly every day I worked with Afghans who, at their core, were not very different from me and other Americans. Their experiences and frames of reference were very different, but they truly wanted life, liberty, and the chance to pursue happiness for themselves and their families. They just lived in a country and culture that made all of those very tenuous.

During this 57-year journey, I have had many other influential experiences. I have had countless friends, nearly all of whom I would still consider friends, though many I haven’t seen in decades. I delved into politics running for school board in Madison, WI and Wisconsin State Assembly; I was unsuccessful at both. In 2019 I published a book on why we must and how we can reinvent education in America.

Though I didn’t recognize it early in my life, I think I’ve always wanted to help others in some way. That is probably what led me to working in education and remaining in the military for so long. More recently, I realized I could help more than just a few people by leveraging the breadth of my experiences and lessons I’ve learned. One way of doing that is through my writing.

I have lived an exceptionally blessed life, and I know it. I also know such a life should be available to every person on this planet. That it’s not is a sad commentary on humanity. Our world is in chaos while the knowledge and ingenuity to address our biggest challenges largely exist. We must stop fighting and start working together. That is the underlying purpose behind my writing.

If this “brief” intro has piqued your interest, feel free to read the full version, “Come in and know me better, man!”

Kevin Miller is a Boomer who joined the Army during the Cold War and continues to serve. He has spent 30-plus years working in K-12 education as a teacher, administrator, and consultant and is now on a mission to reinvent our school model. His book Know Power, Know Responsibility provides the imperatives for a complete redesign of schools and the way to get there. See his website knowresponsibility.com to learn more.