Charlie Blair: In His Own Words

4/30/2019

The time is growing short.

Charlie Blair’s career as a Collegiate teacher, coach, and administrator which began way back in 1978 can now be measured in weeks. In a blink of the eye, we’ll be talking days. Then hours.

Then, sometime after the final meetings when few folks are around and the campus is still and peaceful, he’ll clear the personal stuff from his Flippen Hall office, turn in his keys, and move on to his next adventure.

Quietly. Humbly. No fanfare, as is his nature. No regrets, either. How could there be when, upon retirement, he’s leaving a legacy of excellence, compassion, dedication, empathy, trust, and on and on and on?

A few days ago, amidst the race-to-the-end-of-the-year tumult, he reflected upon his calling and his career spanning 41 years, 11 of which he taught 7^th grade boys history, 38 of which he coached varsity boys soccer, and 29 of which he served as head of the Middle School.

So why education in the first place?

It seemed to me that pretty much everybody I was in school with (at the University of Virginia) was going into medicine or law or business. It took exactly one accounting class and one economics class for me to realize business wasn’t going to be it. I had no interest in medicine. The practice of law didn’t really light me up either.

I was a little unsure what I wanted to do. I was working at Camp Virginia, and I looked around and saw people that I thought a lot of that were teachers: Petey Jacobs, Mr. (Mac) Pitt, Alex Smith, Charlie McFall. They were working with guys and having a great time doing it and making a difference in their lives. It occurred to me that maybe that was something I should explore.

How did you end up at Collegiate?

I lucked into this thing. The school needed a couple of guys to come in and fill some roles coaching and helping out in various ways. They hired Mark Dorney (lacrosse coach) and me in December of 1978. The plan was to coach and work with Charlie Slick, a history teacher here. There were about 600 study halls that needed covering. Back then, at least some of our physical education was the last couple of periods of the day. Mark and I did that. After about a month with Charlie Slick, Mr. (Hugh) Addy became ill. I ended up teaching his 8^th grade English classes for a pretty good stretch. The next year, the (7^th grade boys) history job opened up.

Once you were here, did you every question your career choice?

Never questioned being in education. Only question I had was around teaching versus administration. I was a very reluctant administrator. I really liked teaching and coaching. Rob Hershey (Collegiate’s head of school from 1988-1998) was the one who told me I really should explore administration. After 10 years of teaching, basically he called me into his office and said, “You need to go back to school and get an advanced degree so you can get into administration.” I told him I really didn’t want to get into administration, but he thought better of it, and he was convincing.

So I went back to UVA. It was a new 18-month program sponsored by the Danforth Foundation called Instructional Leaders Internship Program. I went up there on a Thursday afternoon. Classes were from 5-10 on Thursday, all day Friday, and all day Saturday. I did that twice a month for a year, then backed down to once a month.

Once you succeeded Bill Reeves in 1991, did you have any idea that you’d head the Middle School so long?

No, I didn’t envision it. I just thought I’d give it a try. I’ve never, ever thought of doing something else. I’ve not had any interest in going into another field.

What kept you at Collegiate? Certainly you had inquiries about headships along the way.

I felt challenged here. I’ve never felt bored or that things would be better somewhere else. I would also go back to that reluctant administrator thing. The farther away you get from kids, the less interest it holds for me. To be a school head meant very little contact with students. That just didn’t interest me at all.

What’s been the toughest part of being Middle School head?

You really want to do right by the students in our charge. It’s constantly trying to understand the things that are tugging at them. The last 10 years, the acceleration of life really has me worried for these kids. A lot has to do with technology, a lot with unreasonable expectations: the pressure to be perfect at everything. All that concerns me greatly.

What’s been the most joyous part?

That’s easy. Seeing a smile on a kid’s face. Or seeing a kid overcome something. There was a kid that came by my office earlier today who’s been struggling. He came by, stuck his head in, and flipped over a piece of paper: a 91 on a math quiz. You can’t beat seeing the kids grow.

As an experienced teacher/coach/administrator, you’ve also taught the teachers and coached the coaches.

Maybe, a lot happens that’s not as intentional. If you model behaviors and treat each other with respect and honesty, that sets a tone. Heck, I don’t know how much teaching of teachers I’ve done. I’ve probably learned a lot more.

What’s next?

I’m going to spend a lot of time with my family. We have four children here in town, two grandsons, another on the way. We’re blessed to have my mother still around. I’m going to spend a lot of family time with (my wife) Leslie and the kids.

What will you miss most?

Absolutely, the people. That means the students and the people with whom I’ve worked. I’ll miss families, too. We’ve got good people here. We’re trying to do right by their children. There’re times when you’re out on the soccer field, and maybe they’re not the greatest team, but they come together in a certain way. I’ll miss that. I’ll miss competing. I’ll miss when something goes well. And being part of a program that does well.

How would you like to be remembered?

That I was fair. For students, I’d hope they think that I’ve cared about them and treated them with respect. That I’ve loved working with them. I’d hope that they’ve felt there was a good relationship. With co-workers, I’d hope that they thought that we were in this together. That we shared a working relationship that was certainly special for me, and I hope it was for them. That we were pulling at a common goal, and that was to help our students become as successful as they could be.

-- Weldon Bradshaw

Back