Background -
In August of 2017, I moved to Bridgman Michigan after being hired as the Manager of Tapistry Brewing Company in town. While working at Tapistry, I met many locals including folks associated with Bridgman Public Schools. In 2019, I was hired by Haymarket Brewery as an assistant brewer and began a wonderful career in the brewing industry. I adored the people I worked with especially the owners and managers who were very kind to me. The head brewer was one of the most accomplished brewers in the industry and it was an honor to work for him. It would have taken a lot for me to give up my job at Haymarket which is part of my story.
In June of 2021, I was asked by someone connected to Bridgman Public Schools if I would be willing to mow the lawns and sports fields voluntarily. The regular groundskeeper was in the process of building a new baseball field and so I agreed to help out. In July, Bridgman Public Schools Assistant Superintendent Sam Stine approached me while I was mowing and asked me about my experience with being an Aquatic Director. My experiences were extensive as I had managed several Country Club pools over the years (part-time), coached swim teams, and taught swim lessons to special needs children along with those who feared the water. In addition, I was an All-American swimmer, All-State in water polo, and I also taught sailing, canoeing, and water skiing for years at a YMCA summer camp in Fremont. Becoming an Aquatic Director at a High School would have been the only job I would have left the brewing industry for.
In August of 2021, I was approached by Sam Stine and BPS High School Principal Gerald Heath about coming to work at BPS as the Aquatic Director and also as a substitute teacher working one-to-one with a student with Autism. I verbally accepted the offer on a handshake, gave my two weeks notice to Haymarket, and began the on boarding process with EduStaff which is the HR for substitute teachers in Michigan. After everything was approved by EduStaff, my official start date was Monday September 20, 2021.
On the Friday before my start date, I received a frantic call from Principal Heath notifying me that somehow I was not qualified to be a Substitute Teacher and that I would be relegated to being a ParaPro at $10.50 hr. I wasn’t concerned about the demotion as my primary focus was becoming Aquatic Director which I was still anticipating since no one had told me otherwise. Had I known that I wasn’t going to be the Aquatic Director early on, I would have returned to the brewing industry and continued on with my career.
From my start date of September 20, 2021, Sam Stine and BPS Superintendent Shane Peters would avoid having conversations with me and I would be treated with open hostility by a few of the radical teachers who I would later accuse of violating the Establishment Clause. As the weeks went by with no word about the Aquatic Director position, I began to realize that I had been lied to and that I was never going to be the Aquatic Director. My service-connected PTSD would trigger and I would go in to a deep depression that would last for many months. Based on information and belief, Sam Stine offered me the Aquatic Director position because he wanted the Aquatic Director (at that time) fired over what happened during COVID. With the pool being closed, the Aquatic Director was still being paid his full salary and Stine felt that he should have been mowing lawns or doing something to earn his salary. According to an inside source, the Aquatic Director refused to do any work so that is why Stine wanted him replaced and there I was, fully qualified. A coworker at BPS speculated that the reason the Aquatic Director wasn’t fired was because he had a close relationship with Superintendent Peters, but that turned out not to be accurate. The BPS Administration still wanted the Aquatic Director replaced, but not with me after there was an objection to my hiring.
What I didn’t know at the time I was hired was that a biological male was allowed to join the BPS Girls Swim/Diving Team the previous school year. I knew the student as he worked for me at Tapestry, but I didn’t realize that HE was allowed to participate on the Girls Swim/Dive team. Had I known that it was the policy of BPS to allow for biological males to participate on female sports teams, I wouldn’t have come anywhere near Bridgman Public Schools. And had I been hired and found out about this demonic policy, I would have resigned immediately in protest. I finally understand why I wasn’t hired to be Aquatic Director at BPS, but I will never understand why (now former) Assistant Superintendent Stine and (soon to be former) Superintendent Peters wouldn't tell me the truth from the beginning so I could return to my previous employment.
Based on evidence and the behavior of Bridgman Public Schools, the demotion to Parapro was intended to have me quit before my first day. Principal Heath lied about my qualifications as my Military Record clearly proved that I had a Junior College standing which is a requirement for Substitute Teachers. Even EduStaff recognized me as a qualified Substitute.
With just over two weeks to go before the end of the semester, BPS placed me on paid Administrative Leave pending an investigation of professional misconduct. There was never an investigation conducted and a few weeks later, BPS would falsely claim to EduStaff that I had quit (self-terminated) [AttD]. A year later, BPS would protest my unemployment by claiming to the Michigan Department of Labor that I had quit. The MI Dept. of Labor has since come after me for the benefits I received and is in the process of placing me in collections .
In June of 2021, I was asked by someone connected to Bridgman Public Schools if I would be willing to mow the lawns and sports fields voluntarily. The regular groundskeeper was in the process of building a new baseball field and so I agreed to help out. In July, Bridgman Public Schools Assistant Superintendent Sam Stine approached me while I was mowing and asked me about my experience with being an Aquatic Director. My experiences were extensive as I had managed several Country Club pools over the years (part-time), coached swim teams, and taught swim lessons to special needs children along with those who feared the water. In addition, I was an All-American swimmer, All-State in water polo, and I also taught sailing, canoeing, and water skiing for years at a YMCA summer camp in Fremont. Becoming an Aquatic Director at a High School would have been the only job I would have left the brewing industry for.
In August of 2021, I was approached by Sam Stine and BPS High School Principal Gerald Heath about coming to work at BPS as the Aquatic Director and also as a substitute teacher working one-to-one with a student with Autism. I verbally accepted the offer on a handshake, gave my two weeks notice to Haymarket, and began the on boarding process with EduStaff which is the HR for substitute teachers in Michigan. After everything was approved by EduStaff, my official start date was Monday September 20, 2021.
On the Friday before my start date, I received a frantic call from Principal Heath notifying me that somehow I was not qualified to be a Substitute Teacher and that I would be relegated to being a ParaPro at $10.50 hr. I wasn’t concerned about the demotion as my primary focus was becoming Aquatic Director which I was still anticipating since no one had told me otherwise. Had I known that I wasn’t going to be the Aquatic Director early on, I would have returned to the brewing industry and continued on with my career.
From my start date of September 20, 2021, Sam Stine and BPS Superintendent Shane Peters would avoid having conversations with me and I would be treated with open hostility by a few of the radical teachers who I would later accuse of violating the Establishment Clause. As the weeks went by with no word about the Aquatic Director position, I began to realize that I had been lied to and that I was never going to be the Aquatic Director. My service-connected PTSD would trigger and I would go in to a deep depression that would last for many months. Based on information and belief, Sam Stine offered me the Aquatic Director position because he wanted the Aquatic Director (at that time) fired over what happened during COVID. With the pool being closed, the Aquatic Director was still being paid his full salary and Stine felt that he should have been mowing lawns or doing something to earn his salary. According to an inside source, the Aquatic Director refused to do any work so that is why Stine wanted him replaced and there I was, fully qualified. A coworker at BPS speculated that the reason the Aquatic Director wasn’t fired was because he had a close relationship with Superintendent Peters, but that turned out not to be accurate. The BPS Administration still wanted the Aquatic Director replaced, but not with me after there was an objection to my hiring.
What I didn’t know at the time I was hired was that a biological male was allowed to join the BPS Girls Swim/Diving Team the previous school year. I knew the student as he worked for me at Tapestry, but I didn’t realize that HE was allowed to participate on the Girls Swim/Dive team. Had I known that it was the policy of BPS to allow for biological males to participate on female sports teams, I wouldn’t have come anywhere near Bridgman Public Schools. And had I been hired and found out about this demonic policy, I would have resigned immediately in protest. I finally understand why I wasn’t hired to be Aquatic Director at BPS, but I will never understand why (now former) Assistant Superintendent Stine and (soon to be former) Superintendent Peters wouldn't tell me the truth from the beginning so I could return to my previous employment.
Based on evidence and the behavior of Bridgman Public Schools, the demotion to Parapro was intended to have me quit before my first day. Principal Heath lied about my qualifications as my Military Record clearly proved that I had a Junior College standing which is a requirement for Substitute Teachers. Even EduStaff recognized me as a qualified Substitute.
With just over two weeks to go before the end of the semester, BPS placed me on paid Administrative Leave pending an investigation of professional misconduct. There was never an investigation conducted and a few weeks later, BPS would falsely claim to EduStaff that I had quit (self-terminated) [AttD]. A year later, BPS would protest my unemployment by claiming to the Michigan Department of Labor that I had quit. The MI Dept. of Labor has since come after me for the benefits I received and is in the process of placing me in collections .
![[AttD]](/__static/1195d4c3806e9a32905cbd85ed239d4c/self-termination(2).jpg){kind=link}