New Horizons PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID OMAHA NE PERMIT NO. 389
A publication of the Eastern Nebraska Office on Aging
December 2024 | Vol. 49 | No. 12
Ken Bird’s full circle life O
By Leo Adam Biga maha native Ken Bird’s unconventional path from welder to school hall monitor to national special education expert to Westside Community Schools superintendent was not your everyday journey. “I’ve been blessed to have a full circle of life and to have experiences with very diverse people,” Bird, 76, said. “As I think about a road less traveled mine was unique. It wasn’t calculated or planned. I didn’t come from a family that expected me to go on to higher education. They were about, ‘Go to work and work hard, and good things will happen.’ ” He doesn’t believe in road maps for life. “People want to reduce it to a script that you follow step by step. That’s certainly not how my life has been.” How he went from the factory floor to the C Suite is an unlikely story with far-reaching impact. “In high school (Westside) I wasn’t a very good student. I would not have been the most likely to succeed in anything. It’s just a fact. I grew up in a family with limited resources. We lived in tract housing. My dad was a sheet metal worker/ handyman. My mother a grocery store clerk and bartender. After high school I got on at Eaton Metal Products as a sheet metal worker. I took classes part-time at then-Omaha University and became certified as a
DEBRA S. KAPLAN PHOTO welder.” The backdrop to his coming of age was civil unrest due to the Vietnam War and racism. “It was a very contentious time,” he said. Several friends and classmates saw duty. “A close cousin of mine was one of the first American servicemen killed in Vietnam. We’ve got a memorial wall at Westside of alumni who lost their lives in action. I was proud to get that done.” A traumatic industrial accident Bird suffered gave him a deferment. “Then when the (draft) lottery started I drew a high number. I felt bad about it. My friends were being
drafted right and left and I was back hanging out drinking beer.” At the height of racial tensions he worked in northeast Omaha’s potboiler environment. “Most of the night crew I worked with were Black or Native American. Even during the riots there they’d stop on the way home at some bars, dragging little Ken Bird along with them. I had quite the experiences over time.” He rues how people relate to each other. “My sense is the issues back in the ‘60s were more personal and today they seem more political.” Regarding the Vietnam War,” he
said, “I could never fully understand what was going on and why we were involved. Losing family members and friends made it much more closer to home and personal.” As for America grappling with its legacy of racism, he said, “In the first phases of integration and voluntary desegregation what the public schools were trying to do was correct and right.” Today, he said, “It’s higher stakes in many ways but so polarized. It’s we versus they within our own systems. It’s not organic problems, it’s people mad at each other. Certainly the intensity is much different due to social media. My adult children are old enough that they’re going to figure it out. But with all the hateful attitudes I worry more for our grandkids. I didn’t feel that even with the race issues back in the day. My friends I worked with didn’t look like me, and they didn’t care, and I didn’t care.” That experience of looking past differences, he said, “helped shape a lot of who I am.” It’s a shame, he added, “we’ve got to pick sides now that we didn’t have to pick before, and it’s hard to be in the middle.”
LIFE CHANGING TURN OF EVENTS Bird often found himself in the fray as a superintendent. He’s sure he would not have ended up in education, much less in such a political --Bird continued on page 8.
Volunteering regularly is the right answer for self-growth
Travel tips for older adults
Being prepared and taking precautions can help ensure you enjoy a much-needed trip. Learn about basic travel tips from local travel advisors on Page 16.
Humor us with this metaphor: if your mind is a small, green sprout— barely peeking through the ground in which it was planted—volunteering is the sunshine, water and nourishing nutrients your brain needs in order to thrive. It’s a known fact that the benefits of dedicating yourself to a meaningful cause go beyond self-empowerment. As it turns out, volunteering can benefit your professional psyche in many ways. Volunteering utilizes—and validates—your strengths. Have a particularly niche talent that you don’t get to use in everyday life? Want to further develop a skill you would like to implement—or perhaps already use—at work? Volunteer-
ing is a purposeful way to put those to use for the good of others. Since everyone’s interests and skill sets are different, there’s bound to be a perfect volunteer gig out there for anyone and everyone. A prominent part of volunteering is the positive mood boost that comes along with it. It’s likely that you’ll feel a sense of accomplishment—as well as an increase in self-esteem, pride and belonging—when you witness the impact you’re making. This may translate into your professional life as selfassuredness, confident communication and improvements in problem solving. Trying something new is a little --Volunteering continued on page 3.