Harrison Prolic/Rockford Register StarDon Maxwell stands outside his home in Rockton with a plaque that reads "Teachers plant seeds that grow forever." Maxwell is the new principal of Shirland Elementary School.ROCKTON -- Shirland School's new principal has known since his high school days that he wanted to teach -- it just took him a while.
Don Maxwell went to Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, right after high school, hoping to get a degree in teaching music, but he flunked out after three years. He joked that he was a member of Tappa Kegga Brew fraternity. Actually, it was Sigma Phi Epsilon, and he blames his failure on partying and immaturity.
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He worked at SwedishAmerican Hospital in Rockford for 17 years, moving from managing the medical equipment to directing health services. His second career outing then was a success, he said.Upon retiring from SwedishAmerican, his entrepreneurial spirit kicked in, and he joined a motivational development company, teaching people how to set and accomplish goals, another job he enjoyed.
He liked the role of teacher so much that he went back to school for three years at Rockford College, working as a janitor for income. Jayne said it was a difficult three years, but "we made it work because that is what we believed we needed to do." In 1996, he walked out with a degree in child development and a teaching certificate.
He spent eight years teaching at Rockford's Keith School and Stephen Mack Middle School. During that time he earned a master's degree from Northern Illinois University so he could become a principal.
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Maxwell, 56, was selected for the Shirland job from 20 candidates and was the unanimous pick of the district's selection committee. He suceeds Scott Rollinson in the 160-student, Kindergarten-through-eighth-grade school.
Not a particularly ringing endorsment of Sig Ep, but apparently the chapter saw some potential in him when he pledged.
