The legacy of a good leader is how many people you leave behind in other leadership positions
Growing up, and even through college, Dave Gaston never thought much about the education field as his career choice.
Law school, maybe. Publishing, perhaps.
Having grown up surrounded by veteran educators, teaching just wasn’t something he wanted to chase.
But when something is in your blood – Dave’s mother was a 40+ year music teacher, his father a dentist who started out as a biology and physics teacher (and they met and fell in love in a teachers’ lounge) – education will find you.
“Teaching and education is a profession you have to get, you have to like, you have to love,” Dave said. “Even after 30 years, I still love teaching. I still love helping other people, supporting other people, because that’s what education does.”
Prior to founding Gaston Educational Consulting, LLC, Dave served the public for 30 years, culminating his public service career as the Division Superintendent for Charles City Public Schools in Charles City, Virginia. Prior to serving in that position, Dave was a classroom teacher, elementary, middle, and high school assistant principal and principal and central office administrator with the York County School Division, Hampton City Schools, and Williamsburg-James City (WJCC) County Public Schools for 24 years.
Dave continues to teach as an adjunct professor at the Darden School of Education at Old Dominion University, where he has facilitated undergraduate, graduate and doctoral level courses in Educational Leadership Studies and Teaching and Learning for the past 14 years.
It’s perhaps his current role as a consultant that Dave finds the most rewarding.
In many ways, he said, he’s teaching the teachers, and helping today’s educational leader build their own legacies.
“The legacy of a good leader is how many people you leave behind in other leadership positions,” Dave said. “I want to see people thrive, I want to see people grow.”
Growth comes from reorganizing, reallocating, developing and executing strategic initiatives that significantly improve organizational and academic achievement, team building and organizational culture – all services provided through Gaston Educational Consulting, LLC.
Dave holds a B.A, M.A.Ed., and Ed.D. degrees from The College of William and Mary in Williamsburg.
Download Dr. Dave Gaston’s full resume.