On The Banks of Holliday Creek

About the Book

After a tragic accident the Wrights find a new beginning moving from the city with all its conveniences to a forty acre farm on the banks of Holliday Creek. Told from the perspective of their nineyear- old son David, the Wrights meet the neighboring Jones family. Dick Wright is a rising star in the Fort Dodge public school system. Old Jim Jones introduces himself as “a flunky who works for United States Gypsum.” The two families send their children to Holliday Creek School two miles away. The one-room school thrives under the leadership of Miss Jordison, the teacher you always wished you had. “Each One Teach One” is her process as recalled by the author, David Wright, himself a published educator. Vivid family contrasts are woven into this narrative that shows America in the Truman Era witnessing the advent of electricity, the telephone, and the Baby Boom generation. This book depicts Progressive Republicans confronting forces of social change, Big Government, and Reaction. Underlying this story are the ideals of personal liberty and the challenges of living close to nature.

About the Author

David Wright believes it is important for Americans to record who they are and what they went through. David Wright finished 3rd Grade at Holliday Creek School in June 1952. He was enrolled in Butler School in Fort Dodge that September eventually graduating from Fort Dodge High in 1960. He majored in English, but he had a strong background in social studies. He earned his B.S. degree from Drake University in 1966. He taught at East High in Des Moines (1966-1972). During this time he earned an M.A. in English, again from Drake. He married Polly Kaderabek in 1968 and their first daughter Wendy was born a year later. The family moved to the Phoenix area where he took a job teaching Social Studies at Coronado High in Scottsdale. Their second daughter Sarah was born in Scottsdale in1974. During his tenure at Coronado, he gained professional notoriety as an innovator creating a program called Livengood. He promoted his ideas appearing as a “break out speaker” at various teacher conferences. He was contacted by the National Association of Secondary School Principals who requested that he explain his ideas about “curriculum integration. The result was Livengood: A Community Simulation Approach to Integrative Education that appeared in their newsletter in January 1997. The NASSP article told how the disciplines of English, economics, math, are unified in a single program. The article showed how student empowerment and role playing work together in a project-driven curriculum. His article appeared again as the lead article in Education Digest, March 1997. The program also earned a large grant from INTEL Corp. in a competition for innovative contributions to education. Curriculum Integration almost caught on in America, but innovation caused a stir in Scottsdale and reactionary forces quashed the program. The same tide swept No Child Left Behind into power and curriculum integration went out the door. David Wright saw “Teaching to the Test” as anathema. After he retired from Scottsdale, he got bored and he re-entered the classroom teaching at the charter school Academy With Community Partners (2001-2008) in Mesa, Arizona. A “double dipper,” he enjoyed teaching when he did not need the money. Health problems (cancer of the spine that metastasized from leukemia) forced his retirement in 2008. He has recovered since then and enjoys his wife, kids, grandkids, travel, and golf.