Ron Clone, Neighbor

Since my graduation from Michigan State University in 1973, I have been a teacher.   I took one year off in the early &#39;80&#39;s to start a pre-school and a second year off in 1999 for personal reasons.  I taught in a small, very rural district near Lansing, Michigan for four years; a small, resort town on the northwest coast of Lower Michigan for 20; and in Detroit for two years.  When I say &#34;Detroit&#34;, I mean <strong>Detroit</strong>, not like saying &#34;I live in Milwaukee&#34; when I really live in Oak Creek.  My last school in The D was on 7 Mile Road on the northwest side.  My first job there was on East Jefferson downtown.  We could see Windsor across the river.  A short second marriage brought me to Wisconsin where I began my current ten year stint in Racine Unified. I have taught every grade, PK-12, with 27 years in an elementary classroom, including five years in kindergarten and nine years in fourth grade.   

In Unified, I have taught reading at McKinley Middle School and Case High, four years at each.  I was the lead teacher for an excellent program for challenged freshmen readers. The program is Read 180.  I am beginning my third year at Red Apple Elementary, one of Racine&#39;s magnet schools.

My degrees after high school are a BA in elementary education from Michigan State University, a masters in reading instruction, also from Michigan State, and a second masters in school administration from National-Louis University in Milwaukee.  I am a Detroit pro sports fan (Lions and Tigers and Pistons and Wings, oh my!) and I bleed Green and White.

I have three adult children in their 30&#39;s and a seven year old grandson.  My oldest daughter is a speech pathologist living in Seattle.  My second daughter is a medical assistant and mother of my grandson in Petoskey, Michigan  and my son is a restaurant manager at a large resort on Lake Michigan, also in Petoskey.  I am single and live in Oak Creek.