Robert G. Blank: Brief Biography
I am a man who prides himself with integrity, respect for all people and good citizenship. I pride myself by living in the truth, letting my yes be my yes and my no being no. I am a United States Marine Corps Veteran and I carry on with the Corps motto, “Semper Fidelis,” which means in Latin “Always Faithful.” I’m a father of two wonderful young adult children and grandfather of three.
Up to this point, I’ve been teaching, training and/or instructing people all of my adult life. I’ve been doing what I do best in life, teaching elementary school children for three years now. Currently I am the President of Oregon Substitute Teachers Association (www.ostasubs.org) representing close to 8,600 substitute teachers. OSTA was established back in 1974.
Prior to my teaching career I owned and operated a contracting business in Northern California. My company was ranked in the Top 100 list of Highway and Parking Improvement Contractors for the entire United States, Canada and Mexico.
What motivated me to become a teacher is involving myself in youth gang prevention and intervention. The last four years in business (1996—1999) I hired older teen/young adult gangsters in San Jose. These young men were involved with sever gang violence and other crimes. I taught and motivated 11 young men up to three different trades in order to help them help themselves; thus, they turned their lives around. To this day they either own their own business and/or are making top Journeyman wages in their trade. Now they are successful and productive citizens in their community. The thought of making such a difference in a young person’s life was rewarding enough to motivate my humble life change.
At the age of 36, I gave up my business and went back to school to become a teacher. I earned a Bachelors of Science in Human Development and Social Relations from Warner Pacific College. I also earned an Associate of Science degree emphasizing in Communication. I’m about to carry on with my graduate studies in Education and Administration.
I’m also involved and hold membership with The American Legion and Elks Club. I have been a member with several Chambers’ of Commerce, The National Federation of Small Business, Better Business Bureau, volunteer Woodshop and Safety Instructor, tutor for speech impediments, and other.
For three years I have taught grades K-8 in most of the NE Portland Districts, totaling 37 schools. While teaching, my number one goal is for a student to say, “Let me show you how…” After showing me, whatever it is, my instructions are “Go show someone else how you learned…and teach them, too.” Everyone’s a teacher in the classroom I manage!