In this first filmstrip of my image collection are photos of the succession of buildings that housed the Lincoln school in Napa: (1.) Lincoln Elementary School in 1916. (2.) Lincoln Elementary School number two (photo taken in the 1970's), (3.) Lincoln Elementary School number three, and (4.) the Lincoln Elementary School transformed into New Tech High School. In the mid-1970s, the Napa Valley School District decided to tear down and build a new Lincoln School. I was one of five people on the building committee that convinced the school board to go with the open-plan design that we had created. The library would be in the center, with all of the classrooms facing the library with no walls to hide behind. We did not know it at the time, but this building would become the home of Napa's New Tech High.

Success in education is a good thing to hear about these days. Our New Tech High was the subject of an article in the Huffington Post dated January 7, 2011 here

HUFFINGTON POST EDUCATION: Napa New Tech High:
5 Reasons This is the School of the Future

Napa's New Tech High. All it took was some grapes and a good idea. The first New Technology High School began in Napa, California in 1996 as an answer to the frustrations of students, business leaders and communities wanting better educational options for today's youth. Far too many students were leaving high school unprepared for life in the 21st century. As a result, the community created a school where students could learn the necessary skills to survive in the global economy and the digital world. The New Tech model grew out of the skill sets businesses want, colleges require and communities need. Now more than 15 years later, one visionary school has led to more than 60 New Techs in 14 states across the U.S.

Additionally, during the late 70's, I volunteered as a crisis counselor for a three-county crisis-intervention hot line in Napa. During my 5-year adventure with this organization, I chalked up a record-breaking 90-hour week, more than once. I also coordinated volunteers, produced fund-raising events, and trained new volunteers. In the Spring of 1980, I was inspired to move to Sonoma County where I soon met Norman Miller and Don Robertson -- and my work with music, light and color began.

While I was with Rainbow Research, my interest in the artistic use of television, video, and motion pictures unfolded. Our audio-visual productions, presented in an ongoing series of 'shows,' were so moving that they brought audience members to tears. The most popular was the Rainbow Light Show. It was so popular that we moved quickly from audiences of fifty to several hundred. The curators at the Denver Planetarium introduced Norman and I to Greg MacGillivray, and we made a shift to exploring IMAX as the medium for our presentations. In 1986, I moved to Southern California, to work with Norman and Greg MacGillivray to develop an IMAX film.

I took a day-job at Archive Corporation as a Special Projects Coordinator -- producing big-budget parties at the Disneyland Hotel, picnics and other fun projects. Company moral was my department and community service was part of my job. They paid me well for this fun.

Besides fun, there were important jobs too, like being the project coordinator for training 50 employees in earthquake and disaster preparedness for the company's first-response teams. As I was also the company's PR representative at the Costa Mesa Chamber of Commerce, the director asked me to start up an environmental committee for the Chamber and had the opportunity to bring together the local business community to research and implement environmental improvements.

For several decades I served as a public relations representative for the Friends of the United Nations. I produced artwork and brochure designs, various office assistance for this NGO whose purpose was educating the public about the U.N.'s role in supporting children, the environment, and peace.

In 1986, I began working in the film industry. My work with IMAX producer Greg MacGillivray included coordinating the filming of Hands Across America and the Statue of Liberty Celebration in 1986.

In 1995, MacGillivray Freeman Films hired me to be Director of Environmental Education for the acadamy-award-nominated IMAX film The Living Sea. This opportunity connected me with the PR departments of the world's environmental organizations -- from Ted Danson and The American Oceans Campaign to the World Wildlife Fund. IMAX would forever be part of how these organizations got their message to the public.

The following year, I worked with 27 students of the Newport-Mesa High School and co-produced a television special called The AquaNotes for UNICEF's International Children's Day of Broadcasting.

I am dedicated to providing an opportunity for the young to express themselves freely through worldwide media. I have developed a variety ideas for television programs, and have produced a demo called Inside & Out that features an interview with my nephew, NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon.