Jim McHatton:  

After we graduated from Alhambra, I went to Glendale Community College for one semester before enrolling at U of A. Just before I moved to Tucson, I met Mickie Finley, who was attending GCC. We married in August of 1970. We had two children, my son Jay and my daughter Juliann, the mother of my three grandchildren. Mickie and I made it through college and long enough to launch my teaching career. We divorced in 1977. A year later I left teaching and enrolled in my MBA program. Today, I work as a management consultant to small businesses. My work takes me all over the country, which is partly the reason why I have been so slow to respond to those of you who signed my guestbook. I¿ve been consulting full time since 2000. I had decided I wanted to teach English as a direct result of my experience in Mrs. Fredricks¿ sophomore English class. Mrs. Fredricks helped me in many ways. She was the person who impressed me with the value of teaching and the significance a teacher could have on a young person¿s life. I decided I wanted to help kids the way she had helped me. So, (my subsequent experiences with Mrs. Schorr notwithstanding) I pursued a degree in Education, first at U of A and then at ASU. I eventually graduated with a double major in English and Secondary Ed in 1974. I taught middle school for 5 years. By the time I left teaching, I had completed my first master¿s degree, an MA from ASU in 1977 in Secondary Ed. I completed my MBA in 1980 and went to work in advertising. I wrote ad copy, marketing plans and worked as an account executive. Along the way I took a job with...Expand for more