Michael W. Walls

You’d never guess it now, but Dr. Michael W. Walls, chair emeritus of Modern Teacher, a Chicago-based education technology company, admits he was a lazy student while attending Continental Local’s (Putnam) Continental High School (CHS). “My goal was pretty much to have a good time and stay eligible for sports,” Walls said. “One day I was walking down the hallway, minding my own business, and Lillian McKibben, the superintendent’s secretary, came out and ordered me into the superintendent’s office. “She threw my grade card down and I thought, ‘I bet I'm ineligible.’ But when I looked, all I saw were a few Ds but no Fs, so all good. Then, she threw down my IQ score and proceeded to yell at me that I was a lazy slug and should not be wasting my talent. That was a revelation to me. … I won't say that I did a complete turnaround, but I did raise my grades enough to get into college.” Walls graduated in 1960 and went on to earn a bachelor’s degree from Adrian College, a master’s from Eastern Michigan University and a doctorate from Wayne State University. Over the years, he has worked as a teacher, principal, central office administrator and superintendent for school districts in Beloit, Wis., and Wilmington, Del. His private-sector experience includes serving as senior vice president for community relations of MBNA American Bank N.A., now Bank of America Corp. After retiring in 2007, he became Modern Teacher’s board chair. In 2016, Walls became board chair of IM4U LLC (www.im4ulearning.com). The organization offers a unique, music-based social-emotional teaching program for the early childhood years that unites educators, parents and children to develop positive human principles. “CHS was a wonderful place to grow and to learn,” Walls said. “Great teachers, caring administrators, and the entire staff was very supportive. I had a rather miserable home life, so the school was a comfortable place of refuge.”  In honor of CHS teachers, Walls funded a small scholarship for a graduating senior who wants to be a teacher. “The priority is someone who is going to be a teacher, but if no one is, it goes to a deserving student,” he said. “I have done it for 26 years and have an endowment in my will so that it will go on after I’m gone. The teachers in the Continental School District inspired me to become an educator, and it has been a wonderful journey.”