It's time to talk with Bill Kroynovich in this bonus episode of CCISD to the Fullest. Bill Kroynovich is the stadium manager for Challenger Columbia Stadium. After being in banking for 30 years, Bill joined CCISD as a general draftsman over eight years ago. In a true field of dreams moment, his love of sports and being in the right place at the right time collided to give him the opportunity of a lifetime. Here’s Bill Kroynovich sharing his passion for CCISD’s Challenger Columbia Stadium and what it means to him to live CCISD to the Fullest.
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Hey. Clear Creek ISD.
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It's Lindsey Hunt.
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And it's that time again when we have a chance to listen to the special moments.
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Dava and I shared with our colleagues during the making of CCISD to the fullest.
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One of those special moments is our interview
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with Bill Kroynovich the stadium manager for the beautiful Challenger
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Columbia Stadium.
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He was in banking for 30 years prior to joining CCISD as a general craftsman
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over eight years ago in a True Field of Dreams moment.
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His love of sports and being in the right place at the right
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time collided to give him the opportunity of a lifetime.
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Here's Bill Kroynovich sharing his passion for CCISD's Challenger,
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Columbia Stadium, and what it means to him to live CCISD
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to the fullest.
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Hi, this is
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Lindsey Hunt with Clear Creek ISD I'm Bill Kroynovich
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I’m Dava West, counseling and student services.
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And we are so excited that you are with us today
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and we are looking forward to learning more about you.
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So, Bill, we're going to ask a simple question, but one that's slightly loaded.
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Tell us a little bit about yourself.
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Okay.
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Well, I was born in Youngstown, Ohio, grew up in Youngstown,
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Ohio, moved here in 1997.
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My previous employer
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brought me down here in 1997,
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and we've been here ever since.
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I've been married to my wife, Joan, for 37 years.
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I have two daughters,
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a daughter, Jean, who is a
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who was a teacher in Pasadena.
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She's still in Pasadena, but now she's a librarian, first year librarian grade.
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And my other daughter is a small business owner.
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She owns Delta Life Fitness in Friendswood,
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and she's had that for four years.
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Seven grandchildren.
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And my little buddy Bennie, my rescue dog, who is part Schnauzer and part Yorkie.
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Okay.
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So previous employer.
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Yeah.
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Career path before joining Clear Creek ISD?
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So prior to joining Clear Creek, I was in banking
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for 30 years.
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I started out as a teller
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and worked my way up to a regional vice
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president in retail lending and
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that was, that's what I did prior to CCISD.
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A banker. A banker.
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And now you manage our beautiful challenger, Columbia Stadium.
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Facility that we have out there in Webster. Yes.
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So how does one go from being a banker to being,
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I assume, suit and tie suit and tie and. Tie.
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To being stadium manager?
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Suit and tie conference calls, meetings, emails, traveling.
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You just you know, after 30 years, I was just
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I was eligible for early retirement.
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So I opted I was living in Milwaukee,
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Wisconsin was where I was officed out of my family was here in Texas.
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Still, they weren't you know, we lived in Youngstown.
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Got to the warm south, warm weather, did not want to go back to the cold.
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I was going to ask about
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whether that was another question, but that was a contributing factor.
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It was extremely cold in Milwaukee.
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My daughters were in high school at the time.
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When they moved me.
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They asked me to go to Milwaukee.
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So I went up there.
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I was up in Milwaukee for about five years.
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I had a townhouse up there and I just called my wife one day after
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30 years, eligible for early retirement and said, You know what?
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I think I'm done with this.
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I'm going to take it in enough stress, enough pressure.
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The heart probably won't make it
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till I'm 60 or 65 if I keep this.
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You know, I set myself up financially, too,
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to be able to do that through the years.
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So that's that's what I did.
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I sold the townhouse, packed it up and moved back to move back to Lake City.
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Wow. So my wife, she was working with the school district and
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she worked for the school district for 17 years, retired from the school district.
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And she said, why don't you why don't you apply it to school district?
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We'll have, you know, all the holidays off together.
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And so that's what I did. And here I am now.
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So work life balance, I think, really brought you to Clear Creek. Yes.
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So how many years have you been in Clear Creek ISD? 8.
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Eight years? Yes.
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Started in August of 2014.
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And was the stadium that's what was the stadium was underway.
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Actually.
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The stadium was being built.
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It was under construction.
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I was hired in by Ed Hall as a general craftsman.
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And it's funny because, you know, the maintenance,
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the vehicle parking lot is right there across from the stadium.
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So every day I would get in my truck, my work truck,
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and I'd be pulling out and I'd look over at that stadium.
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And when I came back in, in the afternoon,
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I'd look back over at that stadium and I just watched it being built.
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And every day I just thought to myself, if there's ever a job
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that's posted there,
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I'm I'm going for it.
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And here I am.
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What was it about that stadium being built?
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I don't know.
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I just
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I've always loved sports.
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I love events.
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And, you know, that that just it just
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just watching it being constructed.
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And it's funny because when I worked in downtown Houston for the bank,
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I used to drive by Minute Maid Park was being built at the time,
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and on my way into the office I would drive by Minute Maid Park
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and I just I watched it being built and it's just I don't know what it is.
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It's just something about it that that just caught my eye.
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And like I said, I love sports, I love events.
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And that just sports drove me there.
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I did.
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I played I played basketball and baseball
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all the way through high school and stuff.
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My mom wouldn't let me play football.
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That's just my mom's fault.
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So I saw you play basketball and baseball and you're working at a stadium,
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which I don't think either one of those, but it's still there.
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And it's a beautiful it's a beautiful I won't call it a building.
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It's just a beautiful place, facility. Facility.
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Very good word that we had and the like.
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I've seen I know you've told us stories about it's not just events there.
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You get to kind of watch wildlife in the back of it, too, right?
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Oh, yeah.
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We have you know, there's plenty of deer,
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actually, Sunday when I pulled up there to
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to clean up after the band event we had this weekend,
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the characters were back.
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They come back every fall and stay the winter.
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So we know you probably wear a lot of hats as the stadium manager for Clear Creek.
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ISD So what's a day in the life like?
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You know, it just depends on it depends on the season.
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Like, like folks don't understand
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just how much
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it takes to get ready for an event
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and how much there is as far.
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And, you know, in cleanup, I mean, they show up for the event,
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they enjoy the event and they go home.
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But it's like, you know, now
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we're in football season, so we could talk a little bit about football season.
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There's every day there's.
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Well, there's all the football games going on. There's stuff going on, right?
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There's stuff right. There's stuff going on in the field house.
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There's stuff that we have to you know, when the players come out
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for a kickoff, we go in and we we start, you know, we clean up the locker rooms
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and get them ready for halftime when they go out.
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You know, they come in for halftime, they go back out for half.
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We're back in cleaning up for post-game.
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And, you know, there's stuff we do on Mondays, there's stuff
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we do on Tuesday, stuff we do on third Wednesdays.
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Thursday is my grooming day where I groom the field, get the field ready,
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and then Friday is just all day, just making sure you know
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everything is in place and ready for folks to show up.
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It's clean. It's.
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You know, and it's just it's game day ready.
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Right.
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I love that game day ready.
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So but off season, I mean, is there an old season?
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Pretty. I know.
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Is there? There's probably not.
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Yeah.
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The field house sees the quite a bit of traffic.
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The field house does see quite a bit of traffic.
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But it's kind of funny how the how the year plays out there
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because so well just because we're in football season.
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So we'll go back to football season.
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So we start in August.
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So August through Thanksgiving, I mean, you're just you're busy.
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I mean, it's football.
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You have intermediate, you have varsity.
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You know, we have the band competitions here.
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And in October and and then, you know, come December,
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January and February, you have you know, you have meetings and soccer and stuff,
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but it's nowhere near as intense as an as busy as football season.
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So you get you have the opportunity to catch your breath.
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And then we start into March
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with track season,
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March, April, May,
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you know, April and May is your big banquet seasons
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where there's I mean, there's a banquet in there
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every single night, the month of May until.
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Graduation hundred ish people.
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What's capacity?
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The capacity of the field, the community rooms is 300.
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So, you know, I have I have band
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and orchestra banquets that are 250 to 75.
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You know, you have other you have golf banquets that are maybe 50.
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So it's a wide range, but you're there every single night
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because and even on Sundays, you know, finally, Coach Fox,
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you know, we were having banquets on Sunday nights
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and she kind of got wind of that and she was like,
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Why are we having banquets until nine, 10:00 here on a Sunday night?
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And so we she kind of put the rule down, you know,
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5:00 that's it on a Sunday just to give me a break.
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Yeah.
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You know, you need that balance.
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And then there's the graduation gantlet.
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And then we have graduation.
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And then after graduation, a new track usually comes in
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till the middle of June, which that's another quick turnaround
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is, you know, clean it up from graduation.
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And then you have, you know, track
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where they're bringing in, you know, a thousand kids a day
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and then, you know, so then
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the rest of June, from mid-June and July,
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you know, maybe the first week of August, we get that break
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and you catch your breath again.
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So it's just kind of, you know, it's kind of the up and down.
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So as soon as you you're always looking for that.
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Next break is what you know, is
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what keeps you from burnout and what keeps you going.
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Because, you know, there's light at the end of the tunnel.
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Just I just need to get there right.
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So let's talk about that.
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I'm sure, you know,
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you have some really great days and I know you also
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probably have some pretty tough days.
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So what do you do to get through those tougher days?
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I'm yeah,
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like I said, you just you just look for the you know, you know, Right.
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You look for the end of the tunnel,
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the light at the end of the tunnel, you know, it's coming.
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And I heard it.
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And I just the way you kind of spoke about your friend Benny, your your.
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Yes, your puppy.
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I'm thinking like your family
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and Benny help a little bit with some of those rough days as well.
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Yes. I mean, it is I mean, you know, without
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I have a very, very understanding family, which I'm grateful for,
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and I have some very supportive bosses, which I have many bosses.
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Everybody has their hand in the in the stadium.
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So which is fine.
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And I don't have a you know, and they're all very, very supportive.
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You know, my family, I mean, I've missed birthdays,
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I've missed anniversaries, I've missed weddings, I've missed funerals.
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I missed. But they they understand. And
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the passion and the commitment that I have toward the stadium.
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And, you know, also, you know, my bosses, I mean, like like this
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just this past weekend is a you know, a perfect example.
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You know, we had a big game Friday night, a huge crowd with with Clear Falls
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and Clear Springs to bed There had to you know, there's always got to be a winner.
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And I'm sure that that was I mean, that was a great game.
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And then Saturday, I have 27 bands
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coming in for a huge band competition.
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So we cleaned up as the traffic cleared a little bit Friday night
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and you know, my cleaning crew, which for football season,
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I have an outstanding cleaning crew and I really appreciate those ladies.
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I mean, they,
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you know, they work till if you're working in a high school
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as a custodian and stuff, you're there till 1130.
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They were there at 5:00 in the morning along with Chris Pitts.
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He showed up at 5:00 in the morning and said, Hey, what do I need to do?
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I'm here to help.
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Thursday there was a box truck that pulled in full of concession
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items for the band competition on Saturday that needed unloading.
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You know, here comes Kirby and Jimmy.
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Jimmy Greer all rolled up their sleeves and helped me unload that truck
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and get everything done.
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So, you know, we always have. Yeah.
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And then there's Coach Fox. I mean, you know, when we opened up the stadium
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every Friday night after a football game,
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she would call me to make sure I got home safe.
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I mean, so, you know, there's just a lot of
00;13;48;13 - 00;13;50;12
that support that helps get you through.
00;13;50;12 - 00;13;53;24
I mean, you know, it's just great to have that kind of support.
00;13;53;24 - 00;13;57;07
Reaching out, getting to know others, building that those relationships.
00;13;57;14 - 00;13;58;10
Very interesting.
00;13;58;10 - 00;13;59;27
We've talked to a few other people
00;13;59;27 - 00;14;02;23
and we're hearing a lot about kind of the CCISD family.
00;14;02;28 - 00;14;03;24
Mm hmm.
00;14;03;24 - 00;14;08;11
And it sounds like you really have a strong CCISD family.
00;14;08;12 - 00;14;09;18
I mean, you know,
00;14;09;18 - 00;14;14;00
Chris calls me every Monday morning and you know, how is the weekend?
00;14;14;22 - 00;14;17;14
What do you got going on this week and how can I help?
00;14;17;17 - 00;14;18;18
What do you need?
00;14;18;18 - 00;14;23;13
And Kirby, almost every day, just, you know, I'm there every day, you know.
00;14;23;13 - 00;14;25;26
Hey, Bill, what do you got going on? What do you need? How can I help?
00;14;26;04 - 00;14;27;18
Do you need anything today?
00;14;29;08 - 00;14;31;14
You know, just very, very, very supportive.
00;14;31;25 - 00;14;35;14
And that, you know, that you just don't know how much I appreciate that.
00;14;36;28 - 00;14;40;12
So it sounds like your passion is working at that stadium.
00;14;40;12 - 00;14;43;01
Like that is is something that you're very passionate about.
00;14;43;01 - 00;14;45;07
Is there anything you like to do outside of work?
00;14;45;10 - 00;14;47;20
Because we had the banking life and now we have the stadium.
00;14;47;20 - 00;14;50;01
So what other things do we like to do? Yeah.
00;14;51;05 - 00;14;53;13
I do like to fish
00;14;53;19 - 00;14;55;10
and I do like to garden.
00;14;55;10 - 00;14;57;17
And I also a lot of people don't know this, but
00;14;58;21 - 00;15;00;29
I like to work with what I build a lot of furniture.
00;15;00;29 - 00;15;06;03
I've built my grandkids cribs, I built my grandkids beds, I've built
00;15;07;06 - 00;15;10;12
dining room tables, I've I've built desks,
00;15;10;12 - 00;15;14;11
Adirondack chairs and tables, coffee tables.
00;15;14;11 - 00;15;15;24
So you are a woodworker?
00;15;15;24 - 00;15;16;11
I do.
00;15;16;11 - 00;15;17;26
I really enjoy that.
00;15;17;26 - 00;15;19;15
Do you have your own shop?
00;15;19;15 - 00;15;21;08
And it's kind of my garage here.
00;15;21;08 - 00;15;22;07
I shop. Yeah.
00;15;22;07 - 00;15;25;11
I have all my stuff right where it needs to be, just so I can.
00;15;25;23 - 00;15;27;29
I could get to it and self taught.
00;15;27;29 - 00;15;29;13
Or did you?
00;15;29;13 - 00;15;33;27
Do you know my grandfather and my and my father both worked a lot
00;15;33;27 - 00;15;38;04
with wood and built things and stuff, so I just kind of picked it up from them.
00;15;38;04 - 00;15;40;18
And seeing a theme building
00;15;41;16 - 00;15;43;21
construction of a facility.
00;15;43;21 - 00;15;46;01
The construction of an Adirondack chair.
00;15;46;07 - 00;15;48;00
Yeah, a crib.
00;15;48;00 - 00;15;49;23
Yeah. Really cool.
00;15;49;23 - 00;15;53;07
And the other thing, I mean, my wife and I, we have a condo in Galveston
00;15;53;07 - 00;15;56;26
on the water, so, you know, it's a 35 minute drive
00;15;57;25 - 00;16;01;12
to to our little escape,
00;16;02;24 - 00;16;06;24
you know, and that that's, you know, 35 minutes and you're on vacation.
00;16;07;03 - 00;16;08;27
Except for. The weekend. You're on the island.
00;16;08;27 - 00;16;10;12
Yes. Ready for the island.
00;16;10;12 - 00;16;12;29
So it's enjoyable.
00;16;12;29 - 00;16;15;10
So I'm so I'm going to go back because I'm so intrigued.
00;16;15;19 - 00;16;18;01
Banker Stadium Manager.
00;16;19;03 - 00;16;23;16
So when you started in CCISD was it different than what you were expect?
00;16;23;16 - 00;16;26;29
Like what were your expectations coming into this new role
00;16;26;29 - 00;16;29;29
that you had and how do you think it was a little different?
00;16;29;29 - 00;16;32;14
You started as a craftsman.
00;16;32;15 - 00;16;34;22
General craftsman. General craftsman. So what?
00;16;34;23 - 00;16;36;24
What position? I mean, what is just.
00;16;37;15 - 00;16;40;27
I mean, actually, basically what I did was I moved a lot of stuff around.
00;16;41;12 - 00;16;43;07
If something need moved.
00;16;43;07 - 00;16;43;23
There you go.
00;16;43;23 - 00;16;46;13
Go. Move it.
00;16;46;13 - 00;16;51;11
So, yeah, I mean, it was just, you know, you go from 30 years of,
00;16;52;20 - 00;16;55;29
you know, pressure and stress and you know,
00;16;57;07 - 00;17;00;06
and yes, phone calls, emails,
00;17;00;06 - 00;17;04;00
I mean, meeting after meeting, conference call after conference call and
00;17;05;07 - 00;17;09;27
to just a little more relaxed, Hey, you know, here's your work orders.
00;17;09;27 - 00;17;11;18
Go take care of them.
00;17;11;18 - 00;17;13;21
And he's here. You know, it's nice to check.
00;17;13;24 - 00;17;16;15
You know, everybody's not watching your numbers and where you're at.
00;17;16;15 - 00;17;21;06
I mean, in in the banking world, it was just so there's just so much pressure.
00;17;21;06 - 00;17;24;09
I mean, you'd have a good month,
00;17;24;12 - 00;17;26;05
you know, you'd celebrate for a day.
00;17;26;05 - 00;17;28;21
And two days later your boss was calling you and
00;17;29;15 - 00;17;30;29
your numbers are behind for this month.
00;17;30;29 - 00;17;33;26
What are you doing to catch up against the third of the month?
00;17;34;20 - 00;17;36;27
I've got a few more days in the month.
00;17;36;27 - 00;17;38;03
So care.
00;17;38;03 - 00;17;40;08
First day you were in CCI. Do you?
00;17;40;08 - 00;17;41;25
Did you go humming? Went?
00;17;41;25 - 00;17;43;14
Yes, I did.
00;17;43;14 - 00;17;46;20
I was like, new job and hearing how making was.
00;17;46;20 - 00;17;49;01
And then like you go home and you're like, right on.
00;17;49;01 - 00;17;50;20
This is I mean, I can relax.
00;17;50;20 - 00;17;53;08
Yeah, a. Little, you know, it's this.
00;17;53;08 - 00;17;55;10
This is all right. Awesome.
00;17;55;27 - 00;18;01;00
So what top three things have you learned in your roles,
00;18;01;15 - 00;18;04;19
roles and capacity?
00;18;04;19 - 00;18;09;22
Top three Things I've learned in my role at CCISD
00;18;13;26 - 00;18;14;07
and I.
00;18;14;07 - 00;18;16;17
So that's kind of a tough question.
00;18;16;17 - 00;18;19;16
But I would say, you know,
00;18;20;04 - 00;18;22;19
especially at the stadium
00;18;22;19 - 00;18;25;10
with banquets and stuff,
00;18;25;13 - 00;18;27;14
you know, how to really get along with people.
00;18;28;05 - 00;18;30;22
And and I've learned that
00;18;31;15 - 00;18;33;27
it's you have to be prepared
00;18;34;09 - 00;18;38;02
and prepare them because we have, you know, everybody has rules and stuff.
00;18;38;02 - 00;18;39;25
So they're not my rules.
00;18;39;25 - 00;18;43;00
They're, you know, they're maintenance rules, they're athletic rules.
00;18;43;00 - 00;18;46;08
They're safe and secure rules.
00;18;46;08 - 00;18;49;00
So whenever we have an event, I always try to reach out,
00;18;50;23 - 00;18;53;18
you know, to the to the chairperson of the event
00;18;53;18 - 00;18;56;23
prior to the event and just make sure that we're all on the same page
00;18;56;23 - 00;19;00;18
because the last thing you want is for them to walk into an event
00;19;01;09 - 00;19;03;21
and the day of the event and you have to tell them no
00;19;03;21 - 00;19;06;07
or Hey, you really can't do the expectations.
00;19;06;28 - 00;19;12;17
So yeah, so you just have to really learn how to get along with people and,
00;19;13;19 - 00;19;15;23
you know, get people to hear, right?
00;19;17;07 - 00;19;21;20
So if you had young Bill over here or not
00;19;21;22 - 00;19;23;25
that like from those banking
00;19;23;25 - 00;19;26;28
and working at the stadium and all of your career journey,
00;19;27;12 - 00;19;29;11
do you have any advice that if you could go back
00;19;29;11 - 00;19;31;06
and tell them as a young person, what would
00;19;31;06 - 00;19;33;08
what kind of advice would you would you give them?
00;19;33;11 - 00;19;36;08
We have a lot of new teachers and new people working,
00;19;36;08 - 00;19;38;10
and so what kind of advice would you give them?
00;19;38;10 - 00;19;40;23
I would.
00;19;40;23 - 00;19;45;08
It's it's passion and commitment to the to the job you do.
00;19;45;26 - 00;19;48;23
And if you don't have that and you don't see that,
00;19;49;11 - 00;19;51;28
you have to I would do you have to change it,
00;19;52;09 - 00;19;55;13
Embrace change as your friend and don't be afraid of it.
00;19;56;20 - 00;19;57;20
That's great advice.
00;19;57;20 - 00;20;01;04
Some positive things really came out of the change
00;20;01;04 - 00;20;03;22
in your life, and I'm sure that was a huge departure.
00;20;04;21 - 00;20;05;18
It was.
00;20;05;18 - 00;20;09;15
It was it was scary, but it was just it was just something that,
00;20;11;00 - 00;20;13;24
you know, like I said, I mean, you know, way back
00;20;13;24 - 00;20;17;25
when I was young, I always told my wife and we always plan.
00;20;17;25 - 00;20;23;06
I said, I want to be they can the bank can make the calls until I'm 51.
00;20;23;12 - 00;20;26;07
By the time I'm 50 years old,
00;20;26;07 - 00;20;28;10
I'm going to make the time, right?
00;20;28;10 - 00;20;32;28
I'll make the calls, but I'll give you everything you got til I'm 50.
00;20;32;28 - 00;20;36;23
We'll see where we are when I'm 50 and we'll go from there.
00;20;36;25 - 00;20;39;16
And that's exactly what I did.
00;20;39;16 - 00;20;42;17
You had a plan and some goals and Right.
00;20;42;23 - 00;20;43;29
And just.
00;20;43;29 - 00;20;46;04
But you have to enjoy and I did enjoy the bank.
00;20;46;04 - 00;20;48;11
I mean, there was a lot of stress and pressure.
00;20;48;11 - 00;20;50;20
I mean, I wouldn't have been there for 30 years if I didn't.
00;20;50;21 - 00;20;52;17
I mean, there were a lot of great times,
00;20;53;15 - 00;20;56;10
a lot of great memories,
00;20;56;23 - 00;21;00;12
you know, But just embrace change as your friend.
00;21;00;18 - 00;21;03;09
I mean, if it's time to change, it's time to change.
00;21;03;09 - 00;21;05;23
I mean, do something that you like to do and that you
00;21;06;01 - 00;21;07;14
that you can have that passion
00;21;07;14 - 00;21;10;05
and you can have that commitment and have fun and enjoy it.
00;21;10;18 - 00;21;13;27
Yeah, I guess resonates with a lot of this audience
00;21;14;06 - 00;21;18;15
for the school district is is passion and passion for the district, passion
00;21;18;15 - 00;21;22;11
for our students, passion for our kids, family,
00;21;23;12 - 00;21;24;12
definitely.
00;21;24;12 - 00;21;26;20
Do you take any time on Friday night when that really great
00;21;26;20 - 00;21;27;21
football game is going
00;21;27;21 - 00;21;30;21
and just take a minute and take it all in and enjoy the game a little bit?
00;21;30;21 - 00;21;31;19
Just a little. Bit.
00;21;31;19 - 00;21;33;06
I try
00;21;33;24 - 00;21;36;27
to in my goal on I get there at 6:00 in the morning
00;21;37;07 - 00;21;42;17
and we go nonstop, pretty much nonstop until 7:00 to kickoff.
00;21;44;00 - 00;21;44;17
And then once
00;21;44;17 - 00;21;47;17
I get those locker rooms ready for halftime,
00;21;47;17 - 00;21;51;16
I try to walk out onto the field and take in a few plays that moment.
00;21;51;17 - 00;21;52;28
Yeah. Right.
00;21;52;28 - 00;21;56;23
And just seeing some great athleticism over the over
00;21;56;23 - 00;22;00;12
your time there and some really amazingly talented kiddos there.
00;22;00;14 - 00;22;02;05
Yes, absolutely.
00;22;02;05 - 00;22;04;24
And it's kind of neat to see them.
00;22;04;28 - 00;22;07;23
You try to remember their names, which you can't, but, you know,
00;22;07;23 - 00;22;11;16
and then you're watching games on a Saturday afternoon or a Saturday night
00;22;12;27 - 00;22;13;17
and you see them.
00;22;13;17 - 00;22;17;03
And I'm like, Oh, you played at the stadium and then you get to Sunday
00;22;17;22 - 00;22;21;07
and you're watching them until he played at the stadium, you know.
00;22;21;07 - 00;22;22;24
So it's it's really cool.
00;22;22;24 - 00;22;25;01
It's really neat that connection you got. Yeah.
00;22;25;01 - 00;22;25;24
So and even.
00;22;25;24 - 00;22;28;22
Even track and field I mean we had Matthew bowling
00;22;28;26 - 00;22;32;01
if you if you don't know who Matthew Bowling is Google him.
00;22;32;25 - 00;22;34;24
He's at the University of Georgia right now.
00;22;34;24 - 00;22;39;22
He he ran the 100 and a998 Wow.
00;22;39;23 - 00;22;42;19
At the at our stadium we are out on YouTube.
00;22;43;25 - 00;22;44;05
With.
00;22;44;05 - 00;22;50;07
All of it was wind aided so it was a little win that day but still a998.
00;22;50;13 - 00;22;51;08
Still clocked it.
00;22;51;08 - 00;22;53;09
In as a senior in high school.
00;22;53;09 - 00;22;56;21
And now he's at Georgia and and he's doing very, very well.
00;22;56;21 - 00;22;58;04
So it's just not only football players.
00;22;58;04 - 00;23;03;19
I mean, there's a lot of I mean, he's just he's an amazing track athlete. Wow.
00;23;04;11 - 00;23;05;15
I know.
00;23;05;15 - 00;23;07;15
And he ran at our stadium.
00;23;07;15 - 00;23;08;11
It's pretty cool.
00;23;08;11 - 00;23;11;05
I love the pride you have in that entire state.
00;23;11;17 - 00;23;15;20
And he ran at our stadium and you are part of the historical moment.
00;23;15;20 - 00;23;17;13
So. Absolutely.
00;23;17;13 - 00;23;20;02
So what's going great in your life right now?
00;23;21;10 - 00;23;24;19
What's going great in my life right now is
00;23;28;05 - 00;23;30;05
football season about it.
00;23;30;05 - 00;23;32;02
I mean, it is I love football season.
00;23;32;02 - 00;23;33;10
I love graduation
00;23;34;28 - 00;23;36;25
and I love football season.
00;23;36;25 - 00;23;41;00
And track is kind of probably third on the list.
00;23;41;11 - 00;23;45;14
But yeah, football season and graduation are are my two
00;23;46;09 - 00;23;48;23
They're they're the favorite times a year they're a lot.
00;23;48;23 - 00;23;51;10
Of fun part about graduation.
00;23;51;25 - 00;23;53;27
Just seeing the kids
00;23;53;27 - 00;23;57;14
and how you know their excitement their nervousness
00;23;58;21 - 00;24;01;11
and just seeing how they how they how they react.
00;24;02;10 - 00;24;06;28
You know, the speeches are always I always try to whatever I'm doing,
00;24;07;07 - 00;24;10;07
I try to position myself to where I'm at, where I can at least here.
00;24;10;18 - 00;24;11;25
I mean, the speeches that
00;24;11;25 - 00;24;16;06
that the principals give and, you know, the superintendent,
00;24;16;06 - 00;24;17;15
it was Dr. Smith and Dr.
00;24;17;15 - 00;24;21;21
Engle, you know, I mean, the speeches are just awesome.
00;24;21;28 - 00;24;23;14
I just loved to listen to them.
00;24;23;14 - 00;24;24;13
They're really cool.
00;24;24;13 - 00;24;26;19
Motivational, inspiring.
00;24;26;19 - 00;24;29;10
And you get all the tidbits, you get all the advice from all the kids
00;24;29;10 - 00;24;30;08
you didn't listen to hear.
00;24;32;03 - 00;24;34;00
All seven of them.
00;24;34;02 - 00;24;37;28
So we know you probably have had quite a few moments
00;24;37;28 - 00;24;40;13
in your time here at CCISD
00;24;41;20 - 00;24;45;07
Is there been one or maybe a few that have left
00;24;45;07 - 00;24;47;17
a footprint on who you are as a person?
00;24;49;02 - 00;24;50;27
Wow. I know that's a tough one.
00;24;50;27 - 00;24;55;04
That is a tough question.
00;24;55;04 - 00;24;56;05
You know, I don't know.
00;24;56;05 - 00;24;57;12
It's just
00;25;00;15 - 00;25;02;23
at the stadium when I applied for this job,
00;25;03;26 - 00;25;07;04
the last question they asked me in the interview
00;25;07;04 - 00;25;11;27
was, why should we hire you for this position?
00;25;12;25 - 00;25;15;21
And I'll never forget it because I looked at each one of them
00;25;17;16 - 00;25;19;09
in the eyes and I said,
00;25;19;09 - 00;25;22;07
Because you'll never have to worry about Challenger, Columbia Stadium.
00;25;22;27 - 00;25;23;29
I got it.
00;25;24;23 - 00;25;28;28
And, you know, I just took that commitment and I live that commitment every day.
00;25;29;03 - 00;25;31;03
I try to I mean, I make mistakes.
00;25;31;03 - 00;25;33;00
I don't you know, nobody's perfect. I mean,
00;25;34;15 - 00;25;36;25
but I'll never forget it.
00;25;36;26 - 00;25;39;03
I've always held that in.
00;25;39;24 - 00;25;42;05
I mean, that's you know, that's what I gave them.
00;25;42;05 - 00;25;43;02
I gave them my word.
00;25;43;02 - 00;25;44;21
And my word means a lot to me.
00;25;44;21 - 00;25;46;26
I gave it my commitment
00;25;46;26 - 00;25;48;15
and that's what I do.
00;25;48;19 - 00;25;51;01
Pretty good footprint. Sure.
00;25;51;01 - 00;25;54;18
I think that some of the fact that you can name a student by name
00;25;54;18 - 00;25;56;12
and no worries in college
00;25;56;12 - 00;25;58;14
and some of the football plays in the speeches and things,
00;25;58;14 - 00;26;00;13
I think that there are a few other people out there
00;26;00;13 - 00;26;02;03
that left a few footprints as well,
00;26;02;03 - 00;26;04;14
because I love the passion that you're talking about, the students.
00;26;04;14 - 00;26;08;12
I mean that you watch them, you're actually engaged in what they're doing and
00;26;08;19 - 00;26;11;11
and you make a difference for them for having that stadium ready
00;26;11;11 - 00;26;12;28
so they have that opportunity to shine.
00;26;12;28 - 00;26;15;11
So I think that's really cool, too. Yeah.
00;26;15;11 - 00;26;20;11
So this podcast is about living CCISD to the fullest, and I'm not quite
00;26;20;11 - 00;26;24;19
sure there's another person that might live it more than you. So.
00;26;25;05 - 00;26;30;04
That what, what, what does it mean to you to live CCISD to the fullest?
00;26;31;11 - 00;26;33;26
I mean, here again, you know, I know I've talked a lot about it,
00;26;33;26 - 00;26;39;26
but it's you just go back to the passion and the commitment and towards your job.
00;26;39;26 - 00;26;42;07
And in that should be anybody.
00;26;42;07 - 00;26;47;03
And if they don't have that passion and they don't have that commitment,
00;26;47;03 - 00;26;50;06
they need to they need to find it
00;26;50;06 - 00;26;52;23
and they need to to get there.
00;26;53;02 - 00;26;57;09
And again, if it means change, don't be afraid of change.
00;26;57;09 - 00;26;59;00
I mean, if you have to take a few steps
00;26;59;00 - 00;27;02;27
back, take a few steps back because you take a few steps back
00;27;03;01 - 00;27;07;17
and you enjoy what you're doing, it will show.
00;27;08;06 - 00;27;10;19
And then before you know it,
00;27;10;19 - 00;27;13;03
you're five steps ahead.
00;27;13;11 - 00;27;15;25
I mean, just, you know.
00;27;15;25 - 00;27;16;21
And it sounds like that
00;27;16;21 - 00;27;19;23
that passion and commitment can get you through the challenging times as well,
00;27;20;00 - 00;27;21;10
because you know that you'll be able
00;27;21;10 - 00;27;23;27
because I like the way you were talking about the seasons at the stadium,
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and sometimes it's heavy and sometimes it's not so heavy.
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But you you look forward to the next one because you know you've made it three one.
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And so even during those challenging times, we remember your passion,
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your commitment.
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You'll you'll make it to that next next big moment.
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It's a good role to live by.
00;27;39;03 - 00;27;43;00
I think with any work life balance issues that might be happening
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in someone's life right now.
00;27;44;06 - 00;27;46;17
I mean, this too, shall pass.
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Finding the the purpose and looking forward.
00;27;50;07 - 00;27;52;26
Right. And it's just. I mean, it's just like teachers.
00;27;52;26 - 00;27;56;24
I mean, you know, you hear the teachers all the time say, oh, you know,
00;27;56;24 - 00;27;59;01
Christmas break is only five weeks away.
00;27;59;25 - 00;28;02;09
So you're always yeah, you're just always looking for
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the next the next break in the action.
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You know. I like that break in the action.
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So what?
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I know I've already asked you one bit of advice, but what advice
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would you have for others to help them live CCISD to the fullest?
00;28;17;01 - 00;28;19;09
So if we still have some people trying to figure out
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what CCISD is all about, how would you what advice would you give them
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about living it to the fullest?
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Find your niche, find what you like,
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you know, find what you enjoy
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and go and enjoy it.
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Figure it out.
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Make purposeful time to do it.
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And and whether that be your career or in your personal life.
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I think the time and the commitment to achieve it.
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Smith gives you that balance.
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Exactly.
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I am so glad that we had this opportunity to talk to you.
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I've learned so much about you and I admire and appreciate you even more.
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Those are your questions for today.
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Thank you for It's been a real honor.
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Thank you for living CCISD to the fullest.
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Thank you for having me.
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I really appreciate it.
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Thank you, Bill All right.