2008 Woodie Awards
Board member remains active in community
Jon Miller
Issue date:
4/23/08
Section:
Campus
|
Sayan was born in Seattle in 1928 and raised during the depression of the 1930s.
"Everyone was lower class then," Sayan said, "The depression was tough on everybody."
Sayan remembered living with two families crammed into one house. His father was lucky to get employment with the Works Progress Administration, a federal program intended to help displaced workers during the depression.
After lettering in football at West Seattle High School, Sayan joined the Navy for two years of active duty and then spent five years in the Naval Reserve.
His military service qualified him for the GI Bill, which allowed him to attend the University of Washington. Sayan completed his bachelor's degree in 1951, received his teaching certificate and began teaching while he continued working on his master's degree.
Sayan's first seven years as an educator was spent at a school for court appointed juveniles.
"I used to work on their replacement," Sayan said, "bring them back to the city, work them in with the family and follow through on them. Sometimes (I had to) go back and get them."
Sayan went on to work at Sealth High School and served as dean of boys from 1957 - 60. He then spent three years doing administrative work for the central office of the school district. He also served as a counselor at Edison Technical School, now called Seattle Central Community College, and as an adjunct at Seattle University.
In 1963 Sayan took an appointment as vice principal of Nathan Hale High School and eventually became principal of the school.
"We did an innovative and integrated curriculum and all kinds of things that were supposed to be the latest," Sayan said, "and many times they turned out not to be as good as what was tried and true."
He resigned from the Seattle public school system in 1966 after 15 years.
"I couldn't feed my family on what I was earning," he said.
Sayan then went to work for Boeing as an assistant corporate training administrator where he was responsible for company-wide education and training activities as well as being a liaison with higher education institutions.
In 1969, Sayan went back into public service for the state as director of the newly formed Higher Education Personnel Board. The HEP board had responsibility for all the non-faculty in the entire education system.
Be the first to comment on this story