The Importance of Teachers: A Conversation with Principal Higgins

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Coming up on this

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episode of the healthy,
wealthy, and wise podcast.

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I decided to, um, uh, forego
my career in aerospace.

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and went and uh, to a, uh, a
school, a public school district

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out in Danny, California.

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Okay.

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I, I asked them, uh, I would
like to begin teaching.

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Is there, you have any
openings or positions?

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And so they did have some
substitute position openings.

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And here's the interesting thing.

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And, and, and I believe that this was
strictly God, uh, ordered and God driven.

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I, when I inquired about the
position, uh, the lecture,

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Welcome to the Healthy, Wealthy,
and Wise podcast with Dr.

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William T.

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Choctaw, MD, JD, where the doctor
helps you unlock your full potential by

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equipping you with tools and knowledge
in the areas of health, wealth, and

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wisdom, anchored in his experience
as a business executive, a physician

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surveyor for the joint commission,
a former mayor, and over 50 years

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of experience as a general surgeon.

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You've got questions.

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He's got answers.

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So let's get started.

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Here's Dr.

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William T.

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Choctaw.

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So welcome,

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ladies and gentlemen, to our,
uh, another episode of our

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Healthy, Wealthy and Wise podcast.

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We're very, very fortunate to have
with us, um, uh, one of our good

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friends and dear brothers, uh, Brother
Higgins, uh, who's going to share with

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us some of his life experiences and
give us a number of words of wisdom.

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Good morning, Brother Higgins.

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Good morning.

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Good morning to you, Dr.

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Choctaw.

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Good morning.

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Good morning to you also,
uh, Brother Jesse Hammond.

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Good morning.

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Good morning.

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Very good.

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Thank you.

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Well, um, I hear that you're doing a lot
of things now and to some extent, uh, um,

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you made the well being little transition.

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Tell me a bit about yourself, uh, the
particular for those who may not know you.

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Okay.

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Yeah.

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So, you know, um, I, um, currently
right now I'm, I'm married, uh,

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um, A beautiful wife, uh, 37 years.

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Thank you very much.

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Two beautiful daughters.

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Uh, we're currently empty nexters.

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Um, cause right now our two
daughters, they are both reside.

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They're doing wonderfully.

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Well, praise God, uh, on the East coast.

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And so, so after, uh,
raising them, uh, in the.

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Uh, well, first I grew up in the
city of Gardena, California, and,

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you know, I attended colleges
locally here in California.

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My undergraduate is from the California
State University of Northridge, where

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I majored in business administration,
and then I have a master's degree

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from Loyola, a master's degree in
secondary education from Loyola

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Marymount University, and that's where
I launched my career in education.

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But, you know, um, through that time
period, you know, uh, and, and, and, and

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schooling, uh, I, I knew I had wanted to
go into the field of education and, and

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thus, you know, I spent, um, a good 30, 30
plus years, uh, in working in education.

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So right now my wife and I, we currently
reside in Inglewood, California.

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We're just right now just
enjoying, enjoying life.

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Good to see you.

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Why did you, I, I hear that
you're in education, you, you,

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you are, you're a principal.

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Why did you choose to become a principal?

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So, you know, that's a very good question.

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Um, actually, uh, I got into
education because I've always

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wanted to be a teacher.

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Okay.

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And a high school basketball coach.

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That was one of my dream jobs.

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Um, when I was, uh, a younger,
younger man was to become a teacher

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and a high school basketball coach.

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Okay.

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So, uh, after I graduated from college,
uh, right after I grad, received my

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undergraduate degree, uh, I said,
well, there's no way I can go into

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teaching education because the, the
pay, uh, the salaries just wasn't

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what I was looking for at that time.

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As you know, teachers, uh, are not paid
what they, I believe should receive,

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uh, agree the work that they do.

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And so I, I started a,
in a career in aerospace.

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I worked eight years in aerospace.

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Okay.

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And, um, had a great career there.

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Uh, it was a good government pan
position, but still I wasn't satisfied

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because it seems as though, uh,
I was missing out on the world.

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I worked in a confined facility,
a high secure facility.

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Uh, surrounded by four walls every
day and every room that you had

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to enter, you got to enter a cold.

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It was that secure facility.

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Every room you enter, you're
going to touch a cold.

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I said, I want more visits in my life.

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And so I said, you know
what, I'm going to go ahead.

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Despite the fact that I know I'm going
to probably take a pay cut, I'm going

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to go ahead and jump into education.

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So, um, I decided to, um, Forgo my
career in aerospace and went and, uh,

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to a, um, a school, a public school
district out in Banning, California.

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I asked them, I would
like to begin teaching.

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Is there, you have any
openings or positions?

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And so they did have some
substitute position openings.

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And here's the interesting thing.

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And I believe that this was.

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Strictly God, uh, ordered and God driven.

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When I inquired about the position, uh,
the lady said, this was back in the day

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where you can fill out applications.

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I know now everything is online.

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We'll just fill out the application,
uh, with paper and pencil.

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So they hand me the application right
there in the office, in the banding

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unified school district in California,
that application right there.

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I had my diploma with me.

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So I had all my credentials
that are with me.

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As soon as I turned it in to the, uh,
clerk, she reviewed it right there

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and she said, can you start tomorrow

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And I kid you not, I did interview,
I had to go through that.

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She said, can you start tomorrow?

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And that was the launch
of my career in education.

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Wow.

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And from there, it just led from
being a, a, a substitute teacher to a.

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a full time substitute teacher,
a permanent sub, and then let me

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go ahead and start getting to my
credentialing programs, which I just did.

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And that landed me becoming a teacher.

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And then once you become a teacher,
the administrators, they kind of

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start grooming you for administration.

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They see

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something in

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you that perhaps maybe you now
could be a more of a, instead of

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a teacher, a leader of a school.

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And so I accepted, you know,
uh, you know, that honor.

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And I, then I went back and got my
administrative credential and it was

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got me more in an administration.

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So I really had no, um, vision.

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I had no plan to be a principal.

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It kind of just, it ended up that way.

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You know, I think it was

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God's plan.

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Just like what you said, I think so.

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Yeah.

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I just how I got into becoming
a high school administrator.

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I think one of the professions that
I admire the most, and I've said a

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number of times, I would not be where
I am today, but for good teachers,

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teachers in junior high and high school.

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Uh, and, and elementary
school, uh, because I, I grew

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up in the foster care system.

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Um, and so they in effect became
my parent or my mother's, uh,

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mothers and fathers actually.

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And so, and I certainly agree with
you, the teachers don't nearly get the

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recognition and the reimbursement or,
or, um, um, salary that they should

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because they have such a tremendous
impact on children, particularly

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those who, who are outside of the
mainstream like I was, you know?

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Know, uh, who don't have mom and dad
at home and all that sort of stuff.

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You end up becoming that.

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And, and that's, that's
just extraordinary.

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Yeah.

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Well, you know, Dr.

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Au, uh, I love your stories
that you share with us.

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You know, how you, your background
and you know, what, uh, uh,

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led you to medical school.

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And so, uh, those are very,
very powerful stories.

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And, and, and they, they're very.

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Motivating and encouraging.

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And so we, we all like to hear
about your upbringing, you know,

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how you got to where you are today.

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So we appreciate that.

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Thank you.

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I should probably share with the audience.

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Brother Higgins is my teacher.

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Now he actually teaches, um,
uh, Jesse and my Sunday school

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class and you are very good.

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You are an excellent teacher.

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I didn't know a lot about your
background, but you can tell, you

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know, uh, you're, you're passionate,
you're engaging, uh, you interreact

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with your students, you prepare.

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And one can tell, you know, with the
different books you have or different

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types of Bibles or other books you have,
um, and, and, and students can tell that

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and, and it's, it's, it's a good thing.

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It's a good thing.

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And it makes you want to
sit up and pay attention.

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So I can just identify with a
number of those students who've

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been in your classes over the years.

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It's what you put out that allows
you to get back a certain amount

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from your, from your students.

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And you are very good at teaching.

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And I, I did not know anything about that.

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about your history, your story.

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Well, I appreciate that, uh, Dr.

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Choctaw, and again, I give,
uh, God all the glory for that.

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I am passionate about
teaching and education.

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Um, you know, uh, there's so much
out there, though, that we can learn.

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There's so many perfections
that are out there, um, that you

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know, we can engage ourselves in.

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But I will share this also about it
that, you know, uh, I had a desire, um,

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to perhaps maybe I got my uh, attained
my uh, doctorate degree in education.

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Um, because you know,
uh, I just love learning.

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Okay.

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I, I, I, I like, I like that
concept of a lifelong learner.

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I don't think that we
had ever, I'm learning.

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I don't want to go into doctor become a,
you know, an education and then just kind

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of just further my career in education.

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But then, you know, I prayed about that.

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And actually the Lord directed me
instead of going to, uh, receive

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your doctorate education, uh,
the Lord led me to seminary.

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And so, um, yeah, so that's, um, and, uh,
I was right before, I think it was 2017,

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2016, I enrolled at Talbot Theological
Seminary and, uh, got a master's degree in

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biblical theological and biblical studies.

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And so, uh, so I'm using the training
that I received in Uh, seminary to, you

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know, the ministry and now, you know,
like you said, I don't like the word

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teacher, but facilitate, facilitate
the title teacher, but that's what

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I'm doing, being passionate about.

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just the education process,
teaching and learning.

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I'm now taking what God has given
me and want to just give it back.

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And so, um, so that's what I'm doing now.

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So yes.

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Well, I can tell you it shows
being one of your students and my

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philosophy is that that never stops.

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You can still get that
doctrine in education.

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Should you choose to matter of fact,
you may be freeing up a little time.

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So, because I think, I
think learning is forever.

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It's forever.

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And with, with computerization and online
stuff, uh, you, you can still do that.

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You can still do that.

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Yeah.

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No, no, I, I, I do agree that, you know,
I don't know if you saw, there was a story

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just that came out just the other day.

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This, uh, this lady, she received her, I
want to say her, uh, bachelors or masters.

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She's 105.

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Oh my goodness.

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We're never too old to learn.

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No, it

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never stops.

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But speaking of that though, so, you
know, I had shared with the class

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one day that I do want to, you know,
now that I'm retired, I want to, you

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know, uh, increase more ministry work.

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You know, uh, whatever direction to
God, you know, is going to take me.

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But, um, I'm also, as I, you know,
mentioned, uh, that I started

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a nonprofit organization, so,

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yeah.

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So I, um, I started a, uh, a five
one C three nonprofit organization,

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uh, mentoring for teens.

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Um, I came up with this clever,
uh, you know, clever, catchy

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titles and, you know, names.

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And so the name of my nonprofit,
um, like that I formed is impact,

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uh, the word impact and impact the
acronym or the, the, the word stands

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for interactive mentoring programs.

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Aimed at cultivating teens.

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Yes.

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Excellent.

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And to interactive mentoring
programs aimed at cultivating teens.

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And my mission is to grow and
empower teens to make an impact.

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In their communities and their community
in their school communities, you know,

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they're there Wherever they are you
are in a community whether you're at

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your home, whether you're in school
whether you're out in the community,

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um, and so I want to give back, uh,
using that part of education and also

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to mentor teens again to give back what
was given to me, you know, I grew up

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in a loving two parent A family came.

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My mother and father were both in
the home during my teenage years.

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And, and I, one thing I've discovered
working in education, you know, Dr.

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Choctaw, you know, of course,
all of our student records are.

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Are on on the school database and I have
to go into the school database when I'm

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looking up student information And this
is an eye opening thing that I that I

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experienced when I pull up a student's
name on that database Rarely, do you

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see the first name or the last name of
that student the same as the parent?

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You know, that's not to say that
that cannot be a you know, a a

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strong family unit there You When
I grew up, I was Clifford Higgins

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and you saw Laura and Frank Higgins,
my parents, on my school records.

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I don't see that a lot, you
know, in today's schools.

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And, and, and, and it does, it does.

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You know, uh, when you look at the
dynamics of some of some of our

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families with our teenagers, you know,
they are coming from broken homes

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and dysfunctional families and the,
the, the father's not in the home.

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And so I experienced that a lot
as a person, as an administrator.

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And I see where some of the, uh,
issues and problems that our teenagers

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face is because of perhaps maybe
You know, uh, they don't have a

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stable, strong home life as I did.

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And so I want to bring that back
through mentoring and, and I know

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that they can have an impact.

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Okay.

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Um, you know, the, uh, according
to the, uh, um, uh, governor's

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mentoring partnership.

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Okay.

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Nearly half of millions of people
have been, uh, teenagers have been

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provided support through mentoring.

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However, however, thousands of
teenagers are waiting to be mentored.

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They're still A lot of young
teenagers that are made to be a way

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to be, um, waiting to be mentored.

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And so this is the direction
I want to take with my 501 C3

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is to, uh, grow and empower.

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That's my mission.

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Grow and empower teams to make
an impact in their communities.

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And it takes men like us, like Dr.

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Choctaw, like brother Hammonds,
and also the men in our class.

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Provide some mentoring and guidance
to a lot of these teenagers.

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We want to thank you, uh, for spending
some of your very valuable time, um, on a

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Saturday morning to come and talk to us.

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Uh, you clearly, uh, educated
me about some things that I

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had, I didn't have a clue about.

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Um, and again, I see an opportunity
where, where, where we can definitely

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work with you in whatever, um, um,
process you, you would like, uh, to.

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To assist you in doing the
good work or some of the good

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work that, that you're doing.

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Um, and so please feel free at
any time you want to come back,

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just let us know and, and that,
that door is always open to you.

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Thank you for listening to this
episode of the Healthy, Wealthy,

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00:16:31,725 --> 00:16:33,785
and Wise podcast with Dr.

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00:16:33,785 --> 00:16:34,319
William T.

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Choctaw, MD, JD.

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Be sure to check out other great
episodes covering areas of health,

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00:16:40,735 --> 00:16:42,905
wealth, and wisdom at thwwp.

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00:16:45,064 --> 00:16:45,624
com.

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00:16:45,955 --> 00:16:49,505
And while you're there, be sure to
check out the books, blogs, and other

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00:16:49,505 --> 00:16:51,645
literature in your preferred format.

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00:16:52,055 --> 00:16:57,215
And don't forget to leave a review,
subscribe, share, and support the podcast.

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That's at THWWP.

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com You've been listening to the Healthy,
Wealthy, and Wise Podcast with Dr.

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00:17:05,155 --> 00:17:05,724
William T.

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00:17:05,724 --> 00:17:09,085
Choctaw, MD, JD.