Tom David

Tom David, one of twelve children, was born and raised in a small, rural town in east-central Illinois. There were no televisions, radios, or books -- and very few toys - in his home. As a small child he played with younger siblings, building roads, tunnels, and bridges in an imaginary world contained in a mound of dirt behind his house. Pop-cycle sticks, clothes pins, and mud bricks became the raw materials for the mighty structures he designed and built. . . and demolished with the aide of mousetraps and firecrackers. The structure and discipline imposed by the public school were unwelcome impositions on Tom's freedom. Unwilling to conform, Tom struggled in school. He was characterized as a "dreamer" by his teachers and nick-named "Huckleberry Finn" by his friends. Shel Silverstein's Poem, If You Are A Dreamer, epitomizes this period of Tom's life

If you are a dreamer, come in. If you are a dreamer, a wisher, a liar, a hoper, a prayer, a magic-bean-buyer. If you're a pretender, come sit by my fire, for we have some flax-golden tales to spin. Come in! Come in!

Huck was required to repeat first grade. To lift his spirits and to motivate him to try harder, his first grade teacher gave Tom a large box of Crayola C...

Ed.D University of Illinois School Executive Leadership 1999
Urbana, Illinois

S.Ed. Eastern Illinois University Educational Administration 1980
Charleston, Illinois

M.A. Eastern Illinois University Art Education 1973
Charleston, Illinois

B.S. Eastern Illinois University Art Education 1969
Charleston, Illinois