The following column ran in Northwest Arkansas newspapers on April 25, 2018 My time as an educator was extremely rewarding, enriching, and eye-opening. At every stop along the way, I had the privilege of working under a supervisor or supervisors who taught me a lot about life in general and about education in particular. The following paragraphs have some good nuggets of wisdom that I learned from each. It is good stuff to consider, whether you are an educator or whether you just want to be a big help wherever you work. During my first position as an administrator, my immediate supervisor was a lady just a couple of years older than me, and she made a great impact upon my life and on my career because of her encouragement. “I rely on you more than you know,” she told me more than once. And she would often add, “I don’t know what we would do without you.” It wasn’t hard at all for me to be loyal to a boss like that. Another supervisor once said, “Some stude

A column that ran in Northwest Arkansas newspapers on October 18, 2017 by David Wilson Dear Readers, Thank you so much for reading in this space each week. I enjoy writing and I want to write well, but it means so much more if I know someone is getting something out of it on the other end. Some of you occasionally e-mail me, and I appreciate the feedback. If you ever have an idea that should be explored or commented on, please let me know and I will consider it.  In addition, if there is an issue or an event that is specific to Northwest Arkansas that you think someone should be writing about, I would welcome your suggestions on that as well. My writing experience began when I was in grade school, when my teacher assigned it. Call me a nerd if you want, but I usually enjoyed English class and I welcomed the opportunity to produce a paragraph or an essay when it was assigned. I understand that many people did not relish the idea of writing anything

FAITH Column about Bonhoeffer that appeared in NW Arkansas newspapers on April 11, 2018 About 75 years ago—on April 5, 1943—Dietrich Bonhoeffer was arrested and imprisoned in Germany. He was—in essence—jailed for following what he felt were his Christian convictions. It was a troubling time in Germany. Many of us have genuine, heartfelt religious beliefs but few of us, if any, have had to hold to those beliefs knowing that death as a very real possibility. But Dr. Bonhoeffer did. He was a German pastor and a theologian who believed strongly in a practical application of Christianity in life and he practiced what he preached, even during dangerous circumstances. Bonhoeffer had grown up in Germany and was a young pastor and teacher when Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist (Nazi) Party took control. He could have gone along quietly with everything, just as many German church members did at the time. But instead, Bonhoeffer made it clear that

FAITH Originally printed in the April 4, 2018 issue of the Washington County Enterprise Courier: On April 4, 1968 in Memphis, an assassin’s bullet brought an abrupt end to the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. That was 50 years ago, and since that time, we have continued to grapple with how our society will exhibit Christian virtues in our dealings with one another.   If we studied the speeches and the sermons delivered by Dr. King, and if we sought to apply what he taught in the spirit in which those messages were delivered, it would go a long way towards bringing about peaceful living during today’s tumultuous times. Often after a prominent person is gone, people will seek to use him or her for their own purposes. In the example of King, over the years there have always been people who have said what he would approve of or what he would not. And in the process, they sometimes put words in the mouth of a person who can no longer communicate with us for him