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Ken Williams values education, helping students grow
By Barry Merrill 12 September 2007 — One of the support staff at Princeton School brings a wealth of concern about helping students find their place. Ken Williams is a career counselor at the school who is beginning his fifth year. He’s also a major proponent of life-long education, and the need to adapt to the changing needs of the economy. He’s lived it. Ken, now 65, is a native of South Georgia, but the family moved as his father made a career in the Air Force and they moved to various bases. Ken eventually finished his high school work in Greenville, S.C. and started attending Furman University there, but married a girl he met in high school, Judy, another “base brat.” They moved to Illinois as Ken and Judy worked to pay the family bills and to put Ken through college. He went to a community college in Belleville, Ill., but eventually transferred to the University of Evansville, all the time working part-time and attending classes part-time. In the early 1960’s, the Vietnam War was going on, and when Ken’s time to get a degree went into the sixth year, he lost his student deferment and was drafted. He pulled two years in Vietnam before returning to finish his education, with his G.I. Bill to help. He got his bachelor’s degree in Industrial Education, but stayed on to get a master’s in Industrial Technology. After graduation Ken was offered a job in Peoria Illinois working as a director in a day program for severely handicapped. They developed some work programs for their clients to enable them to earn some money. They worked with Caterpillar who had major operations in the area to provide some parts and services for them, and clients were paid commensurate with their contributions to the work. Ken noted they broke some tasks down to make them accessible for the clients. He grew to appreciate the gifts of many of the clients, though some were epileptic, some were non-ambulatory, and some suffered brain damage. He worked with them for six years. In 1976 he left the center to work for Eaton Corporation in Selma, and he and Judy moved to Smithfield. He worked with customers and engineers to provide product to meet customer needs, but later moved into quality control for Eaton. He particularly worked with the quality certification process that many firms aspired to in the 1980’s. In the 1990’s, Ken saw Eaton moving jobs to Mexico, and decided to accept retirement. He took similar jobs in industry in Smithfield and Dunn, but when they began moving jobs to the far east, he retired again. A friend in the school system encouraged him to consider updating his educator skills and at an age many consider permanent retirement, Ken took another job, this time at Princeton. Kirk Denning, the principal at Princeton, he had taught Sunday School with at First Baptist Church in Smithfield. Ken appreciated the opportunity to work with him at Princeton. “This is the best job I’ve ever had. I love the spirit of the school. I love getting to know the students longer here.” He said he has been in contact with some of the graduates after the left Princeton. Most make good decisions, he says. He works with some of the vocational teachers to talk with students about professions. Much of his work before coming to Princeton was around technology, and technology will create many jobs now and in the future, so he embraces and encourages students to embrace the new technologies.
He works with students on interest surveys and developing transferable skills. He also has worked up a list of what he calls essential workplace skills. They include good listening skills, problem-solving skills, knowing how to learn, technology skills, gow to make good decisions, and setting goals. He also works with many students on their Senior Project, a special project that is part of the required graduation process at the school. He encourages and tries to help students with shadowing projects, where students are able to follow a person in a profession they are interested in during the day.
Ken is involved in the community in many other ways. He brought his concern for the disabled to Johnston County Industries, where he served as Director of the Board for 13 years. He is also active in his church, serving on the Deacon Board for most of his 31 years at the church, active with youth missions, and part of the volunteer soup kitchen serving the homeless and needy in Smithfield. In addition to his getting a master’s degree, and he continues to seek every opportunity to grow in his renewed profession, his wife in more recent years got her degree and master’s from N.C. State. She has worked at JCC until recent health concerns caused her to decide to retire. Their daughter is a 6th grade math teacher at Cleveland Middle, and their son has his MBA from Appalachian State and is a certified financial planner. “We value education.”
He also related how he and some of his family struggled with studies. “I was not a great student, particularly in high school,” he relates. He can identify with some students who have struggles in school. “I try to help them find what they want to do, not what someone else wants them to do.”
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