Rick Sperling has spent 40 years of his life working in education and is currently publishing his second book on education.
Sperling's latest book “I should have done more!'' 40 Years of Inspirational Influences and Experiences in Education” was released earlier this year.
“In a way, I felt like I was guided to write it,” Sperling said. “I've been blessed with my job and not just the experience but the people I work with. I've had some big influences, and that's a big part of what this book is about. This is It's about inspirational people, it's about great people that we see every day, that are always right next to us and that we don't really distinguish as great. But they are influencing their behavior.”
Sperling spent most of his career in Mitchell County, where he served in various positions for 32 years, including teacher, coach, principal, assistant superintendent, and superintendent. He retired in 2016 after 32 years with the county, moved to Swannanoa and began working at Asheville Christian Academy. There he taught and coached the school's first football team and also served as principal. Sperling also taught courses at Montreat College where he taught for eight years and East Tennessee State University where he taught for 25 years. He retired about a year ago.
He said the point of his latest book, “I Should Have Done More,'' is to encourage people working in schools to keep doing what they're doing.
“This is meant to encourage teachers, coaches, parents and principals, everyone who works with school-age children,” Sperling said. “It’s a reminder of how important you are to these kids and how many opportunities we have every day to motivate, encourage and inspire them.”
Sperling said she hopes the book will be used for staff development and create a dialogue about how to not only make schools safer, but also motivate educators to continue.
“I hope this book will serve as a kind of encouragement and rededication to the profession,” Sperling said. “I hope that this book will not only encourage and motivate you, but also provide strategies and tips for dealing with some things.”
Sperling's first book, The Time for Bullying-Free, was published 20 years ago and focused on how to prevent bullying and its effects in schools.
“It's always been a big interest for me. I just want to be in a preventative mode to get ahead of things, and the focus of my research has always been how bullying behavior can lead to aggressive and violent behavior within schools. That's a real concern for all of us as educators,” Sperling said.
His latest release includes material on anti-bullying from his first book to help readers tackle this issue in their schools.
Mr Sperling says that while it can be easy to get “stuck” in the education system, it is important that adults in education don't forget the impact they have on children in schools, and his latest book is a reminder of that. He said he wants to remind educators that they should be. .
“This piece is about how important you are as an adult, as an adult influence, as an adult role model, how important you are in the lives of children and how we need to remember that. It's a reminder of what's going on,” Sperling said. “We have a great opportunity to help children by encouraging them, motivating them, and giving them direction in life.”
more:Local author Hoffman wins literary award for “Saigon Guns,'' a detailed account of his time in Vietnam.
