Oral history interview with M. Joy Leavitt conducted by Matthew Jackson on March 09, 2004 for the Public School Principalship Oral History Project. In this interview, Leavitt reflects upon her 33-year career as an elementary school teacher and administrator with Nevada’s Clark County School District from the 1970s to the 2000s. She discusses her experience as a teacher and principal, her approach to school administration, and challenges that she faced such as being a principal at the time of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. She also discusses some of her best experiences while being principal and the environments of different schools.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Donald Logan conducted by Tim Kripps on April 13, 2004 for the Public School Principalship Oral History Project. In this interview, Logan reflects upon his 32-year career as a teacher and administrator with Nevada’s Nye County School District from the 1950s to the 1980s. He describes his regular responsibilities and challenges that he faced, such as violence and interactions with the superintendent. He discusses his working relationship with teachers and other administrators, and his approach to school administration. He also discusses salary, retirement benefits, and elements of the Nye County School District that he feels were most beneficial throughout his career.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Dr. Carolyn Reedom conducted by Kristina Knebl on November 22, 2006 for the Public School Principalship Oral History Project. In this interview, Dr. Reedom reflects upon her 28 years as a principal in Nevada’s Clark County School District (CCSD). She discusses the process by which she became an elementary school principal, and compares it with when she served as a high school principal. She discusses her approach to school administration, and how her experience as a 27-year old principal of Red Rock Elementary School shaped her career. She also describes her experience with school desegregation, and explains why she believes it was desegregation instead of integration.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Dr. Frank Roqueni conducted by Alia Rothstein on June 20, 2006 for the Public School Principalship Oral History Project. In this interview, Dr. Roqueni reflects upon his experience as a principal in Nevada’s Clark County School District (CCSD). He describes the process by which he became a principal, his regular responsibilities, and challenges that he faced. He discusses the high expectations that principals face, and suggests that individuals not enter the principalship because of those expectations. He also provides his opinion on issues such as standardized testing and school safety.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Alice Wisdom conducted by Elizabeth Goodman on October 13, 2003 for the Public School Principalship Oral History Project. In this interview, Wisdom reflects upon her career as a teacher and administrator in Texas and Nevada. She describes the process by which she first became a teacher in Texas, and then the Bahamas in the 1970s. She then discusses how she was hired to teach in Nevada’s Clark County School District in 1979 before eventually being appointed as principal of various elementary and middle schools. She describes her approach to school administration and working relationships, and discusses colleagues who impacted her throughout her career.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Elsie Harris-Gibson conducted by Wanda Renfrow on March 25, 2002 for the Public School Principalship Oral History Project. In this interview, Harris-Gibson reflects upon her 32-year career as a teacher and administrator with Nevada’s Clark County School District (CCSD) from the 1970s to the 2000s. She discusses her priority in being a fair leader, and the importance of fairness in school administrators. She describes her regular responsibilities and challenges as principal, as well as her working relationships with teachers and assistant principals. She also describes her experience with classroom-size reduction, standardized testing programs, and Reading Improvement Teacher programs.
Archival Collection
Dr. John Richard Shepherd shares the background of his early life in southern Illinois, his father's and grandfather's occupations, and his educational journey through college and medical school. His army experiences in Chicago and Alabama convinced him and his wife to look for a warm dry climate in which to live, and they relocated to Las Vegas in 1968. Dr. Shepherd recalls the businesses and housing surrounding Sunrise Hospital, the difficulties getting his specialty listed in the phone book, and renting his first office space from Nate Adelson. He also describes taking out a loan to install ophthalmology equipment, hiring an office manager with medical accounting experience, and doing cataract surgery in a way that basically hadn't changed for decades. The passing of the Medicare bill back in 1966 caused Dr. Shepherd's practice to build up quickly. He details the many ways eye surgery changed, including the invention of the intraocular lens and the phacoemulsification procedure. He mentions his and Dr. Shearing's contributions to ophthalmology — better designed lenses and surgical techniques - which they taught to other doctors from all over the country. Dr. Shepherd discusses radial keratotomy, which was a precursor to laser and later LASIK surgery, and describes a lens implant technique he learned in Russia from Dr. Fyodorov. He goes on to share anecdotes and stories of his interactions with patients, his travels as a consultant and as a surgical teacher for Project Orbis, and meeting Fidel Castro. He speaks candidly about his successes and his failures as well. Dr. Shepherd retired in 2006 and immediately enrolled in a Master's program and earned a degree in military history. After a long and distinguished career, after receiving many accolades and awards, he and his wife are enjoying life, splitting their time between Sun Valley, Idaho, and Las Vegas.
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Oral history interview with Brittany Castrejon conducted by Claytee D. White and Barbara Tabach on November 9, 2017 for the Remembering 1 October Oral History Project. In this interview, Brittany Castrejon details her experiences during the evening of the 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas, Nevada. She describes the Route 91 Harvest Festival set-up and details the events of that night, which she experienced alongside her 14-year-old cousin and a few friends. Castrejon tells her story of trying to find safety from the chaos during the entire ordeal, eventually finding refuge for the remainder of the night at the Tropicana hotel. She ends the interview by discussing her adjustment to life after the shooting and her post-traumatic stress disorder, as well as what she has learned from the experience.
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