Oral history interview with Francie Summers conducted by Stacia Luigi on October 14, 2009 for the Public School Principalship Oral History Project. In this interview, Summers reflects upon her 35-year career as a teacher and principal with Nevada’s Clark County School District (CCSD). She describes her experience teaching at different private and public schools, how she later became a principal, and how her philosophy of education changed throughout her career. She also provides her opinion on contemporary topics such as standardized testing, student ethics, No Child Left Behind, and teacher grievances.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Curtis Jones conducted by Lisa Holm on November 18, 2006 for the Public School Principalship Oral History Project. In this interview, Jones reflects on his nearly 30-year career in the Clark County School District as a teacher, assistant principal, and principal from the late 1970s to the early 2000s. He discusses his family upbringing and early inspirations that led him to pursue principalship, and challenges that he faced as a school administrator. He also discusses pressures that teachers and administrators face on a regular basis, and offers suggestions for how to manage job demands.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Dr. Roberta Holton conducted by Wendy Park on November 20, 2006 for the Public School Principalship Oral History Project. In this interview, Holton reflects upon her 28-year career as a teacher and administrator with the Clark County School District. She discusses challenges that she faced in obtaining a teaching position, and some of her biggest challenges that she faced after being hired as a teacher and eventually principal. She also describes challenges that she faced in opening schools within the school district, and offers suggestions on how to be an effective principal and school administrator.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Fredric “Rick” Watson conducted by Mark Romonoski on April 19, 2001 for the Public School Principalship Oral History Project. In this interview, Watson reflects upon his more than 30-year career with Nevada’s Clark County School District as a teacher and administrator from 1964 to 2000. He describes the process by which he became an elementary school principal, and discusses his personal approach to education. He describes challenges that he faced at different elementary schools, discusses political challenges within the school district, and comments on having a school named after him.
Archival Collection
Gertrude (n?e Rightman) Rudiak was born in 1915 in North Dakota to Russian immigrants. She grew up in Wisconsin until 1924. That was the year the family drove to California via the Yellowstone Trail, a dusty, undeveloped road marked by yellow stones. In Los Angeles, her father practiced chiropractic, a holistic approach to well-being for which there was little knowledge at the time. Gertrude earned her music degree at University of California at Berkeley; a decision that did not lead to a career. She then attended a business college and got a job as a social worker in Northern California. In 1941, she met and soon married George Rudiak. It was the advent of World War II. George enlisted in the service and was assigned to Las Vegas Gunnery School (Nellis Air Force Base.) Since he had a law degree from University of California at Berkeley and passed the Nevada Bar exam, he found supplemental employment with local attorneys. Las Vegas became the Rudiaks? permanent home where they raised their five children. In this interview Gertrude recalls the stories of coming to live in Las Vegas of the 1940?s: their phone number was 1-2-3; the neighborhood they lived in longest being Scotch 80s and being part of the secular and Jewish communities.
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