Bio
Bill Burns used his Teacher Corps experience, 1967-1968 teaching
inner-city youth in Indianapolis, Indiana to earn a job with San
Mateo County Office of Education in 1969 helping non-graduates
attain GED equivalency certificates. After five years of teaching he
became the coordinator of the Career Preparation Center helping
at- risk youth get the GED and find jobs. In 1982 he worked with
education and probation departments to create the county’s first
Community Schools Program for wards of the court. By 1986 there
were three Community Schools and a mobile van to visit pregnant
teens unable to attend schools. Through an independent studies
program teen moms could now study at home and graduate.
In 1992 he was named Administrator of Court and Community Schools. He was responsible for the education of students in the Court Schools, Camp Glenwood, Gateway, the three Community Schools, and Daytop School for kids with addictions. After taking early retirement as an administrator in 1997 he returned to his love of teaching and was hired by Project READ of the Redwood City Library. He became a part-time jail instructor teaching parenting skills and a poetry writing course to the men and women in the county’s jails. He also worked for the San Francisco Giants as a Guest Services Usher and as a Tour Guide of AT&T Park. He retired from his job with the Giants in July of 2017.
Bill continues his work teaching in the jails for Project READ, and he still has time for writing poetry, baseball, and family gatherings with his wife, Peggy, their five children and mates, and seven grandchildren. Bill and Peggy are quite happy that their entire immediate family is able to live close to one another in the greater San Francisco Bay area.
In the Press
Bill Burns,
REED
Contact
Bill Burns: billybd27@gmail.com