The Professional Podcast Network
11344 Bruce Potts-12 02 24-Retired Speech & Language Educator-Phill
Hey there everyone and welcome back to the show. This is your host Phil and my next guest with us here today is Bruce Potts who's a retired educator who specializes in studio art and speech communication based out of Albuquerque New Mexico. How you doing? Say Bruce. Just fine. Alright I'm glad to hear it. So Bruce why don't you tell us a little bit more here about your areas of expertise. Okay basically I never wanted to be a teacher and so I ended up with a double major and speech communications and studio art and then I ended up getting a job working with urban gateways with a program I developed while I was in the service for six years in the Navy where I did really was oral interpretation, techniques, storytelling and puppetry. And urban gateways used me and I got this is when I got very interested in special education because I they one of my assignments I worked for the school for the deaf as well as going into other some of the questionable school districts in Chicago, Illinois. And I got this is when I realized oh I really enjoyed working with the language impaired. And so I went back so the head of the urban gateways told me said you need you need to become a teacher. I went back to Southern University to get my credentials because you don't in Illinois I don't know how other states are that you can't get your certification in speech so I went I just continue with my art and so I got those credentials and this is how I started my career and and basically that I continued I I was back in the Midwest and then I ended about in I got a job teaching drama informed in high school and then I taught high school for about 12 years and I went to Western New Mexico State they had a deal and so I got my masters and I worked with Gallup McKinley School District at a middle school and I basically worked with language impaired kids kids that were completely nonverbal and I tell them how to talk. Gotcha all right and what would you attribute all your success to with your career? I think I think basically is that I think being in the service was very helpful to get to see a side of the world because it's been a lot of time in Southeast Asia and also working with Native Americans when I worked I worked you see for eight years on the Navajo reservation before I moved into Gallup I got my math to get my masters after my masters and and and I realized I was living overseas with like with you know people speaking their language and that you know the bridges that you need a language base and these kids that I dealt with Navajo children mostly they they never had a language base so I started working with a wonderful program I believe it was from North Carolina State it was for a language language development for for the developmentally disabled and with and with this basic information like bread you know hello goodbye you know it was with things like this and so we just started with that with signing and then we did I had a program with a a orange cherry software with the first digital natural voice and it was just really basic phrases and just fundamentals of how to how to respond when people talk to you and all I want these kids in about a year and a half were talking and it was wonderful they were in middle school and so they went up to the high school and the and the people at the high school the whoever the teacher was could get them to stop talking and so they brought me up there and then I stayed with them for the rest of the other the time until I retired hmm all right gotcha well Bruce if we want to like find out some more information here about you or your life or just to reach out to you in general how do we contact you basically by it's easier for me because I I recently had a stroke so I can't read very much and so basically call me on the phone my phone number okay do you want to tell our listeners your phone number my phone number is 505-352-4766 all right well Bruce I want to thank you again for joining me here on the show today and telling us about your life and career it's been a pleasure well I hope that it may help out I you know because I I will add that I did teach for the University of New Mexico for 14 years public speaking and composition all right well Bruce thank you once again have a great rest of your day okay okay you take care and you have a wonderful day thank you so much I appreciate it for the rest of our listeners stay right here we'll be right back after the short break welcome to the professional podcast network where brilliance meets business elevate your brand and supercharge your revenue with inspiring insights and innovation (upbeat music)