Life Lessons…Principally Speaking: Memoirs from the Life of a High School Principal

In this compilation of anecdotes, Dr. Charlie Burry reflects on his 45-year career in public education. He remembers the people who guided him toward the profession, those who influenced him, and the experiences that shaped him as both a man and an educator.

Burry spent nearly a third of his career serving as principal of Hartsville High School, his alma mater, in Hartsville, South Carolina, and his experiences are related here. He also served as church deacon, and wrote devotions that found their way into the book, along with responses to significant world events. He includes principles of The Red Fox Renaissance, the fundamental premises upon which Hartsville High School became a great school again, as well as remarks he shared at commencement exercises. Finally, he reflects on his personal life-his hobby as a quote collector, his career in athletics, and his post-retirement search for identity and purpose.

Life Lessons…Principally Speaking teaches the life lessons learned by a man blessed to live most of his life in a special place called Hartsville, South Carolina. The lessons he learned there, and the lessons he taught at Hartsville High School for forty years as a teacher, counselor, coach, and principal impacted many lives, and will continue to do so through this book.