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Dr. Donald Warner: I'm Glad I Know Him Now Copyright 2003, W. David Tarver Last Thursday, I had the privilege of being in the audience as the Brookdale Student Life Center was named in honor of Dr. Donald Warner. It was a heartwarming event on a beautiful, warm afternoon. As I stood basking in the good feelings and the afternoon sun, I couldn't help but reflect on the man being honored there. Most of the people at the event had a longer history with Dr. Warner than I had. I met Dr. Warner only a couple of years ago. At the time, he had already retired as superintendent of the Red Bank Regional High School District. He had begun yet another career -- in the ministry -- and was serving as the interim pastor at Pilgrim Baptist Church. The occasion of our first encounter was a meeting called by the late John Childs. I had been speaking with Mr. Childs (others knew him as Nicky, but to a young whippersnapper like me, he was always Mr. Childs) about our efforts to build something called the Red Bank Education and Development Initiative, and Mr. Childs wanted Dr. Warner to hear what I had to say. Mr. Childs arranged the meeting with Dr. Warner, Dr. James Parker and several other community leaders at his funeral home, and I arrived with Initiative materials in hand. Now up to this point, I had only known Dr. Warner by his considerable reputation, and by a large picture at the entrance to the high school. For years, I wondered about how he became such a legendary figure, not just in Red Bank, but also in Little Silver and Shrewsbury. Bringing the people from these three very different communities together to create a top-performing high school could not have been an easy task. To achieve success, Dr. Warner had to be both a superb educator and human relations expert. Needless to say, I was both nervous and excited about meeting this man. When we sat down to talk, I told Dr. Warner that I had heard many good things about his work, and that I was so glad to finally meet him. As we got down to the substance of the meeting, Dr. Warner started asking a lot of questions -- good questions -- about the Initiative. He had this unique vocal inflection that automatically conveyed skepticism and kept me on edge. I wouldn't say that he was grilling me -- it was more gentle, like being sautéed. I definitely felt the heat, but I didn't feel that he was being hostile. It was more like friendly banter with someone down to earth, someone from back on the block. At the end of our session Dr. Warner said that he would help our Initiative effort. He said there was nothing more important to him than seeing Red Bank students succeed. Later, he agreed to become vice-chairperson of the Initiative's board of directors, even though he was trying to cut back on his many community service commitments. Seeing his commitment turn to action, I started to understand why he has had such a great impact on so many people. Recently, I was at a meeting at Red Bank Regional High School called by Dr. Westervelt, the current superintendent, to discuss participation of Red Bank students in high school sports. As I was entering the conference room, I glanced up at a picture taken back in 1975, in the early days of RBR. There was the board of directors of the high school with Dr. Warner seated in the middle. Standing proudly behind him were Mr. John Childs and Dr. James Parker, board members. A chill ran through me as I made the connection from then to now, and realized how long and hard these three had worked on behalf of area students. Looking at that picture, I had slight feeling of regret: I wish I had known Dr. Warner back then. Then I had another feeling: I'm so glad that I know him now. David Tarver Red Bank, New Jersey |