Mike Wallace talks with Superintendent Brian Garverick after the Mansfield City Schools Board of Education meeting on Tuesday.
There’s no need to explain to Mike Wallace the challenging lifestyle of a transient child locked in poverty. He lived it.
Wallace, who was hired on Tuesday to be principal of Sherman Elementary School, lived in 23 different communities before he graduated from Buckeye Central High School in New Washington.
“Some of the schools were in the same district, but in different communities. I was a transient student and on the free-lunch program my entire school career,” he said.
Wallace’s father was an auto body repairman turned Methodist pastor.
“My father didn’t have a college degree so he always was designated as a ‘student pastor.’ He was moved around a lot to smaller churches,” said Wallace, 46.
“Four or five times a year he would find a rusty hulk of a car, fix it up and sell it. He always kept us afloat but we never got above the poverty line.
“I did learn from my father. This summer I changed the motor in my daughter’s car,” he said, smiling. He and wife Tami have two daughters, one a senior at Ohio State University, the other a junior at Indiana Wesleyan University, and a son who is a high school junior in Findlay.
Wallace credits his mother and a high school teacher for motivating him to parlay his art skills into a college degree in visual arts.
“Even when I was a little fellow – in the second or third grade -- my mom got me into art lessons. In a lady’s basement, of all places,” he said. “My art teacher in high school was extremely supportive. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do but he gave me an avenue, an outlet. Art became my avenue into education.”
Wallace received his bachelor’s degree in elementary and secondary visual arts in 1992 from The University of Mount Union and a master’s degree in educational leadership from The University of Findlay six years later.
After teaching elementary art at St. Wendelin and Bowling Green, Wallace joined Findlay City Schools, serving in primary, elementary and intermediate principal roles from 2000 until this summer. For a few years he was principal of two buildings at the same time.
“Sherman has a staff and an enrollment about the same as those two buildings together,” he said. “Having met some of the Sherman teachers and other administrators in Mansfield, I believe this is going to be a great opportunity for me, a great fit. I felt it was time to do something new in my career and I believe the decision to seek the Sherman position was right.”
Whether Findlay or Mansfield or any other community, Wallace said, “We, as educators, must make the effort and take the time to recognize the entire child.”
“Children come to us from different backgrounds. Some have had limited social interaction, some even from dysfunctional home environments. We need to listen and show interest,” he said. “We have to show there’s value in all that we do – academics, socially, life.”
Wallace said he will approach his responsibilities at Sherman with a firm memory of those who helped to shape his own life.
“If it were not for a mom who ‘ooohed’ at everything I drew and an art teacher who made a special connection with me to showcase my talent, I certainly may not have lived the blessed adult life I have to this point,” he said.
“My purpose is to make connections with students in much the same way – find and celebrate their potential and provide them with academic and life pieces that allow them to direct their lives to a fulfilling end, as many people had done for me.”