Our volunteer of the month for April, John Todd, is another example of those who contribute a lot of time and energy to the organization, but are quite self-effacing.  I had to twist his arm to get him to agree to an interview.  And there are a lot of people like that in this organization and in SeniorComp.  In fact I have two people on my list who have not yet agreed to be interviewed for this column.  Notice I said not yet!

John was a member of Alamo PC when he saw the info in the PC Alamode about SeniorComp.  So he came by and offered to help, taught a class, helped organize things, and ultimately - in June of 2000 - assumed the title of Director of SeniorComp, a position of high prestige but no pay. You can tell from the way he talks about it he cares deeply about SeniorComp and its mission.

The organization has grown dramatically during his tenure. SeniorComp will offer 9 or 10 classes in the next session beginning April 16^th, and at times has had a backlog of 175 students waiting for a class.  Successful it definitely is.  He would also like to add two more classes: a MS Office application (Word or Excel) and a course on E-mail and the Internet.  Get in line for the last one – I have already put my name in the pot to possibly teach that one.

Of course with success come logistical problems, so John said he needs more teachers and more teaching assistants. He also sees the need for sustained technical, teaching, and moral support from Alamo PC itself, as well as a continuing thrust toward growth. Hardware and software maintenance is also important, with John Woody and Joe Brazell helping there.

The teachers go through a training period, and only then move into teaching.  Why would this be? Because these courses are for Seniors, and we move at a slower pace.  John says, “We don’t dumb down, but we slow down”.  This, plus the small classes – 14 students at the most – accounts for the high success rate and the typical return of the students for a second and a sometimes a third class.

So what did we find out about the guy who now heads all this?  Well, he has always had an interest in electronics and anything mechanical, so computers are a natural for him.  John went to the NCO Academy, then Aviation Cadet School, and then became a Cadet Wing Commander.  He also piloted transport planes over Germany and elsewhere for parachute drops. John’s joke about that was, “why would you want to jump out of a perfectly good airplane?”

John retired after 20 years with the Air Force, went into hardware engineering with Datapark and USAA, and then into training, which he thoroughly enjoys.  He now teaches part-time for Wayland Baptist University, and spends a lot of time managing SeniorComp. We are indeed fortunate to have a guy with this much technical and management background helping out as a volunteer for Alamo PC and SeniorComp.