Jon Wright

My life story has had its ups and downs as any person can attest. According to my birth records, I was born on May 13, 1964 in Oakland, California. It happened to be a Wednesday that year (I have checked back calendars) and due to the location and climate, I can only assume it may have been coolish and rainy that day.

I had an uneventful growing up time, moving fairly often as a child throughout the Western United States. From California, my family moved to Tucson, Arizona, La Vegas, Nevada- where I spent my Junior High years. That is a story in and of itself. We then relocated to Tacoma Washington where my High School years and beyond came about.

I attended Central Washington University and graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Special Education in 1987. I obtained a Masters in Education Degree in the area of Instructional Technology through Lesley University in 1997 and then an Administrative Degree through Washington State University in 2012. Throughout all of this time, I taught at the High School level in a lifeskills setting. I had a stint in an inclusionary track at the Middle School Level, which, after struggling to gain traction in the 1990s, converted back to a traditional Lifeskills setting, which I ran for several years. I then altered my course with a 6 year period of time teaching Developmental Pre-School, then went back to Middle School Lifeskills and onto Administration as a Special Education Director.

Within that 32 years of time, I was married and had four children. After many years, I was divorced and had the privilege of being a single custodial father for several years. I met and fell in love with my current wife, who battled cancer a year into our relationship. Once remission happened with her cancer, we chose to get married and blend our two families. Mine with 4 kids on the cusp of becoming teenagers and my wife’s kids being very young children.

Needless to say, it has been quite the ride, this life. I write all of this to you to hopefully gain a bit of credibility with the readers within this crazy world of Special Education. I have lived life with many families. We have laughed at the silly things that have happened, cried together, commiserated with them as well as encouraged families along the way.