My American dream was fulfilled by my ancestors immigrating to this country and working hard, valuing education and taking advantage of every opportunity afforded them to provide me with a better life than they could ever have imagined.
At some point in the 1920s, my grandfather, his brothers and sisters made a family decision to leave their home in Greece to find a better life for themselves and their future families. There was a lot of political turmoil in Greece at the time, and they all just knew they needed to find a better place.
For my grandfather and some of his extended family, that better place turned out to be the Waco area, yet they faced adversity there when my grandfather died unexpectedly at the age of 50. That left my grandmother—who spoke limited English—a young widow raising three sons ages 17, 15 and 9 (my dad). They were fortunate to have an extended family of cousins and uncles close by, and family was extremely important growing up.
In today’s educational setting, my dad and uncles would be considered English Language Learners because Greek was the primary language spoken in their home. Growing up in a single-parent household, they might have qualified as economically disadvantaged too.
However, my grandparents always had a tremendous amount of respect for the opportunities public education offered—a life changing opportunity for families, including my own—and they instilled that notion in their children. They saw opportunity, not challenges.
One of my dad’s brothers was an outstanding athlete and was part of Waco High School’s state championship teams in the 1940s. He earned an athletic scholarship to Baylor, which took a tremendous financial burden off our family. My dad also went to Baylor, eventually earning his law degree.
My mother’s family also immigrated to the United States, moving from Hydra, a beautiful island off the Greek coast, to Florida. Later, her father opened a successful restaurant in Jacksonville. My mother’s only brother graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy and later became a Lieutenant Colonel in the Air Force. My mother attended business college and was a secretary and office assistance for most of her career.
Think about that for a moment. To have all those sons and daughters of immigrants graduate from public school and all get degrees or post-secondary training; it speaks to our family’s belief that public education is the greatest opportunity and equalizer.
My parents met at a Greek Orthodox Youth Association convention and became pen pals, writing letters back and forth to each other. After marrying, my mother moved to Texas and my parents fell in love with a community just north of Waco — West, Texas, with German and Czech immigrants settling the community.
Growing up in that community, we always tried to soak in as much of the culture as we could while preserving our own through the church and extended family. I always had the expectation to go to college. And, like my dad, uncles, father-in-law, mother-in-law and future wife, I attended Baylor University.
Looking back on my journey, I recognize the role fate played in my career. Entering the education field was not what I expected as my profession. As a student, I loved numbers and thought mathematics or accounting would be my major course of study. However, none of those career options seemed fulfilling for me.
An excellent academic advisor at Baylor suggested I take interest tests in hopes the results might reveal more fulfilling possibilities. Together, we really explored those results which did reveal an interesting paradox. I scored high in math, business and organizational matters, which we expected. But I also scored high in relationship skills and collaborating with people. That was a little bit of surprise at first, but relationships and serving others have always been important to me.
Coincidentally, the Baylor School of Business and School of Education were collaborating to offer a business education degree which offered a course of study that combined my love for numbers and people. That became my major.
As I progressed through the coursework, the notion of adult learning and corporate training appealed to me. Software development was taking off, and one of my professors had retired from Electronic Data Systems in Dallas. Her stories about that life appealed to me, and I had my eyes on becoming a corporate trainer in a large Dallas or Fort Worth corporation.
Graduating in December, which I did, proved to be a challenging environment to find employment. Combining that with the fact that we were in the middle of an awful recession made finding a position in the corporate world extremely difficult.
In that situation, many might consider taking a gap year or a semester off, but growing up in a Greek family was different. The value of not just work but hard work was constantly instilled in me. And I wanted to work too.
Fortunately, I had completed the education courses and student teaching, which I genuinely enjoyed. An English teacher in my hometown was going on maternity leave, and the school district hired me to be a long-term substitute in her class. I fell in love with teaching, and the next year, the district hired me to teach career and technical education courses in the business field.
Again, fate smiled upon me. My principal mentored me and encouraged me to consider administration. I always thought I might one day become an administrator, and Baylor was starting a new master’s degree program that proved to be a transformational experience in my career.
Our cohort had a youthful, optimistic perspective, and I developed deep relationships with my fellow students. We relied on and learned from each other.
Soon thereafter, I became an administrator and moved up quickly within a system that was growing in student population and transitioning from a rural district to a suburban one. I served as an assistant principal, principal and interim superintendent by the time I was 28. Being in my 32nd year now, I look back and shake my head. I jumped into the superintendency too quickly, but I trusted God to lead me in His direction for my life. And my wife became the support system my growing family needed as well as my own rock to help navigate the sometimes tumultuous and unpredictable life as a superintendent.
Now, after 32 years in education, I want to give back to the profession, and I have the pleasure of serving as a part-time professor in both Baylor University’s educational leadership doctoral program and on-line doctoral program in learning and organizational change. I’ve been able to serve as a mentor supervisor for several aspiring superintendents that have gone through the program.
Serving as a superintendent for almost 24 years has provided me time to serve three uniquely different communities — China Spring, Wichita Falls and (Waco) Midway. My previous experiences working in a growing district and a racially diverse, urban environment prepared me for my final assignment in the Midway community. It has been a wonderful fit for my family and me.
During the interview process, the Board knew growth was coming, and they shared a vision of how they wanted the district to balance that growth, meet the needs of changing demographics of the student population, while maintaining and exceeding the high expectations for staff and students expected by the community. Thus, when I left the interview, I instantly felt a connection with the Midway community. I just knew I would enjoy serving this district and it would be a place where my family would blossom and grow.
Originally incorporated and consolidated in 1947, we are celebrating our 75th year as a school district. We have certainly grown larger, yet we have maintained a strong bond with our community, which remains proud of its schools.
We are fortunate to be led by a very professional Board of Trustees, and they have been a great Board since the day I arrived. Our Board members are elected to be the voice of this community in how its schools are operated. Board members provide listening ears to the community and always work in collaboration with administrator, teachers and staff to maintain our culture of excellence.
Midway is certainly a destination district and a destination place to live, and I am proud to serve as superintendent where someday I will end my career.
In closing, I am extremely proud of the Midway ISD community. Think for a moment about all we have been through in recent years — a global pandemic, a major ice storm that caused major amounts of damage, the social unrest that has occurred with the unwarranted and senseless killing of George Floyd, and then most recently with the horrific shooting in Uvalde. While educating our students is always our first and most important priority, the safety and security of our students, staff and visitors must be just as important as we continue to educate students across this nation.
All those events coming together one after the other have weighed heavily on everyone’s minds — educators, parents, students — our entire community. I want to challenge us all to continue to stay steadfast, keep the Faith and remain hopeful that we will get through these tough and challenging times.
We must always encourage our colleagues and encourage one another. In other words, we must work together to find common ground. If not us (school leaders), then who is going to fulfill the obligation we have to provide the educational experience our kids so desperately need and deserve, something we all want for them. And who is going to keep the American dream alive for countless others wanting a better life. We cannot shy away from this enormous challenge. It is our time to act.
Keeping Hope Alive — It’s Our Superpower
Dr. George Kazanas serves the Midway ISD community as its superintendent of schools. He earned his bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees from Baylor University. He may be reached at george.kazanas@midwayISD.org.
