We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Gordon Lyng. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Gordon below.

Alright, Gordon thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. So, let’s start with a hypothetical – what would you change about the educational system?

I have worked in education for the last 10 years all over the country. I have held a plethora of positions and can proudly say I have impacted over 1200 students nationwide and have collaborated with 100’s of educational professionals. I can confidently say that this industry is one I care deeply for.

In the current educational system, there are many different challenges. Each school or educational setting seems to shuffle their hierarchy of importances in terms of child and professional development.

One of the most important topics that seems difficult to cultivate is the creation of life skills courses that match the rapidly changing world we live in. Many young people are tapped into the world like never before. Technology, especially during COVID times, has become more of a necessity as people adapted to these challenges. Socializing and how young people interact seems impossible without technology today. In my opinion, when students are exploring their interests, they are acquiring information from social media and or other forms of social technology that critically influence the direction students desire to pursue.

When children are sitting in traditional classes that serve as the pillars of education, they seem uninspired. It is difficult for students to sit for 45 minutes to an hour moving from class to class in environments that do not motivate students to learn. Again, in my opinion, it is due to the information students are constantly being exposed to outside of school.

In order to prepare students, there needs to be courses at young ages that can adapt to the future of how the world will work when it is their time to make an impact on society. The theory that education designs workers not innovators or entrepreneurs holds some truth as I see standardized testing, common core, and other areas of assessment take precedent over discovery based, kinesthetic, and life worthy education.

All these opinions are based off my experience working in many different educational environments, but what I truly believe will prepare students for a more fulfilling life and career is at the middle school and younger high school levels, establishing life-worthy education as one of the pillars of importance. Job skills, financial literacy, technological profession introduction (youtube, advertising, e-commerce) are examples of life-worthy education that I believe will allow students to have a competitive advantage as technology advances.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

It is a privilege to find an industry that connects closely to your personality. Education and athletics mean a tremendous amount to me because of the pathways it opened up and the people I have collaborated with. I have been able to travel the world playing and coaching sports as well as impacting over 1500 young people in educational environments.

I got into education by being recruited to play college soccer at New Jersey’s top school for education, Kean University. Their standards for educators were much higher than surrounding schools and their athletics program was top-tier. Kean University was such a great fit for me.

Post undergrad, I worked two years as a Manager of Administration for a top soccer academy in New Jersey. My goal was to acquire high level coaching and administrative experience before jumping right into education. I learned a great amount about ethics and doing things the right way.

The next five summers, I had the absolute honor of being an Athletic Director for one of the top boys summer camps in Maine, Camp Skylemar. The opportunity to build programming for young people as well as mentor college athletes who served as their counselors was an opportunity that I will forever cherish. Safety and sportsmanship were two very important pillars to the program which I carry with me in everything that I do.

My next opportunity required me to move to Missouri for two years. I was offered a Graduate Assistant soccer coaching position for the men and women’s soccer programs at Columbia College. This athletic opportunity also allowed me to pursue a higher degree as I was able to complete my Master’s Degree with a focus in education. The skills I learned from working for a college athletic department as well as sharpening my education focus were necessary for my development.

After graduate school, I moved to Denver and took a job as a teacher/coach for KIPP Colorado. I have worked at the same school for four years and each year, I took on more leadership roles. Two of these years, I was a Grade Level Chair, which is a teacher leadership position running a grade level directly. I spent three years as a Family Engagement Coordinator designing ways that our school and community can work more synergistically. This year, I was offered my dream position of being an Athletic Director for the school.

What set’s my work apart from others is that I have committed to my craft and have embodied the role of a high level educator/coach. The way I operate as a human connects deeply to how I operate as a professional. The school I work for resides in an underserved community where the work that I do means that much more. What I am able to offer our community allows me to lead with a set of ethics that support our community.

Being an Athletic Director is something I have always wanted, but to use my experience to change the lives of young people who need strong mentors, it allows me to continue to improve and create for a community that means so much to me.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Education in the United States is constantly on the hotseat for what they can do to improve. The pandemic especially had a large percentage of educators changing professions which shed light on a few of these topics. During my journey, there were several years where I was making between $10,000 – $20,000 a year and I was traveling all over the country to improve my craft. Although these years were not easy, I knew that this time was temporary. There were many times where I wanted to pivot careers for the sake of having a livable income, but a part of me knew that my passion was in education and that these times were temporary.

Resilience to me is perseverance. What are you going to do to survive and maintain a level of growth, while holding deeply on to your passion? During graduate school, I was working multiple jobs subbing for the local school district while being a lead teacher for a preschool. This was all while I was assistant coaching men and women’s college soccer and also fulfilling my duties to the college athletic department. I packed up a small Hyundai and moved halfway across the country for this opportunity and I knew that I was going to do whatever I could to make it work. I didn’t know anyone where I was heading, but I knew deep down it was the right move for my future.

There were many days where I was driving with little to no money in my account wondering if this life was the one I wanted. Not knowing where your next meal would come from is something that humbles you quickly. That moment in my life truly was difficult for me, but I never let go of education. If I can offer any advice, it is when you find what your passion is, “making it happen” at all costs will allow you to embody the process of improving and not making excuses. It is a treasure to continue to work with young people and I am grateful that I stayed the course.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

Being a great leader is an attribute many can learn through sports. I like to credit my professional leadership to the captainship I earned on multiple teams.

Members of your team need to feel valued and need to be given tasks where they can explore and improve their value. When I was a Grade Level Chair, any program I designed was discussed and tweaked with the team of teachers before anything was rolled out. There were about nine on the team with all different opinions and backgrounds. Three usual leadership tips are:

1. Develop equity of voice. We have all been in meetings where it seems the leader is calling all the shots. After the meeting, the team meets offline and will most likely discuss their qualms to other team members creating great disconnect. Having systems in place where you are pulling the skillset of each member forward only improves the team as a whole.

2. Catch them being good! Almost every person enjoys being shouted out or recognized for the work that they do. When you acknowledge their successes, they are willing to put energy forward into tasks when no one is looking. Design systems of gratitude to lift up the work your team is doing. By doing so, you will continue to get their best, or close to it.

3. Be open to change. Everyone has a leadership style, but being hardened in your ways will lose the potential of team members. Each person you lead has a story. People also have different learning styles. The way you talk to one person is not the way another might want to be talked to. By being able to evolve, you are compartmentalizing your style and picking and choosing from your “briefcase” what is the best fit.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://educatemeg.edublogs.org/
• Instagram: Glyng021
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gordon-lyng-mat-7b58b195

Image Credits
Camp Skylemar Photos Image from a parents cellphone