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Background

I grew up in Urbana, was served well by our public schools, and want to insure similar educational opportunities for all children in our community today. The public schools afforded me opportunities on many fronts: academic (where I graduated near the top of my class), civic (where I earned citizenship awards and represented my high school class on the "Tiger’s Den Council", a student organization that operated a teen center in downtown Urbana), cultural (where I served as an AFS foreign exchange student to Switzerland), and athletic (where I earned all-conference honors in basketball in 1960/61). It was upon the foundation laid by our local schools that I went on to accomplish the following in my adult life:

Education

  • Antioch College (1961-63)
  • B.A in Sociology and the Teaching of Social Studies at UIUC (1964-67)
  • M.A. in Social Studies Education at UIUC (1967-69)
  • Ph.D. in Educational Policy Studies at UIUC (1969-73)

NOTE: My college education included significant electives in the natural sciences and my Ph.D. dissertation was entitled "Philosophical Perspectives on Environmental Education", an early indicator of my lifelong interest in environment/ecology.

Professional Career

  • Faculty member at Sangamon State University (SSU) in Social Justice Professions—a program bridging social work and criminal justice (1972-78)
  • Dean of Human Services and Sciences, SSU—a 4-year elected position coordinating eight academic programs (Child, Family and Community Services, Social Justice Professions, Human Development Counseling, Nursing, Teacher Education, Educational Administration, Psychology, Sociology/Anthropology) and the Center for Legal Studies—one of four public affairs centers on campus (1978-82)
  • Faculty member and Chair of Teacher Education, SSU (1982-88)
  • Faculty member in Teacher Education, SSU and later UIS—with two sabbatical leaves to work on middle school reform and a Communities-in-Schools project (1986 through retirement in 2004)

Public Affairs/Community Service

  • Board President, Springfield-Sangamon County Youth Service Bureau (1974-76)
  • Facilitator of monthly discussion group organized through the Juvenile Court to identify and address the needs/problems of children and youth in Springfield, IL (1976-78)
  • Springfield Coordinator, Law Focused Education Project—preparing high school teachers to integrate law into the teaching of social studies (1977)
  • Board President, Lincoln Memorial Garden and Nature Center—a nature preserve/garden and environmental education center in Springfield, IL (1992-96)
  • Project Ethnographer for Comprehensive Child Development Program—documenting activities/accomplishments of a federal program serving 60 low-income families in Springfield, IL with individual case services and advocacy related to child care/development, education, job training and placement, housing, and substance abuse (1994-97)
  • Board Vice President, Community-in-Schools Project, Springfield IL (2002-2004)
  • Active member of AWARE (Anti-war Anti-Racism Effort) in Urbana-Champaign—bringing a number of political writers and peace activists to the community as speakers (2003—present)
  • Member of Urbana Citizens for Instant Runoff Voting (2006—present)
  • Volunteer for Books to Prisoners Project associated with the Independent Media Center (2007 to present)
  • Participant in the Court Watching Project sponsored by C-U Citizens for Peace and Justice (2008-present)

Personal Life—Significant Events/Influences

I was influenced greatly by my father, Robert Storm, a ground water geologist and by his father, Harry Storm, an amateur naturalist and photographer After retiring to Urbana during my middle school years, my grandfather, for example, took me to every Audubon film lecture in C-U from 1955-61!

In 1959, my father purchased 75 acres of wooded property on Lake of the Ozarks in central Missouri, a decision that shaped my educational, professional, and leisure interests and activities ever since (see below).

I married Gretchen Albers from Champaign, IL (1969) and had two children; after Gretchen died in 1996, I married Jamie Sammons from Palestine, TX and Urbana, IL in 1998 and added three step children to my family.

I relocated to Urbana with Jamie in 1999, commuted to UIS 3-4 days per week, and began re-establishing local roots until retiring in 2004. Since retiring, I have been active with several peace and justice organizations in Urbana, with the Books to Prisoners project, and with the effort to implement instant runoff voting (IRV) in municipal elections.

I am now working part-time to develop the Missouri property as a "green" residential community ("The Woodland Community") emphasizing nature preservation, ecologically responsible design and construction, horticulture/gardening, the arts, and education.