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Mac
Bledsoe
President and Founder
Teacher/Coach/Husband/Parent/Grandfather/Educator
Born 1946 in Carmel, California, the second of four children
of Stu and Betsy Bledsoe, Mac has an older brother Michael, and two sisters
Janet and Dede. Stu was a pilot during World War II and after returning from
duty he moved his family to Ellensburg, Washington , where he began a cattle
ranching career, and later serving in the Washington state legislature and
and the Director of Agriculture.
Mac attended the University of Washington on a football scholarship and was
captain of the Husky Football team while earning a degree in Speech and
Psychology. In their junior year of college Mac married Barbara, his
sweetheart since the eighth grade. That was the beginning of a 37-year
marriage and a partnership as best friends and schoolteachers.
After college Mac served his country as a First Lieutenant and commander of
the Enlisted Personnel Division at the Army Transportation School at Ft.
Eustis, VA. Upon completion of active duty Mac and Barbara returned to their
hometown of Ellensburg, Washington. Mac and Barbara raised two wonderful
sons, Drew and Adam. Both have distinguished themselves as leaders and
happy, self-directed young men. Both are married and Drew and his wife have
four children.
Throughout a distinguished 29-year teaching career Mac and Barbara taught in
five different Public Schools Districts. Mac also coached football as well
as track, basketball, baseball, and debate. Along the way, Mac was presented
Crystal Apples for excellence in teaching in both the Walla Walla and Yakima
school districts. He was a recipient of two golden acorns from PTAs in two
of the communities where he was one of the few teachers actively involved in
local PTAs.
Over time, the Bledsoes found themselves disillusioned by the culture in
their classrooms, and the increasing numbers of students who seemed to be
morally and ethically rudderless. They were saddened to watch students
making terrible decisions with life-altering or life-ruining consequences.
Born out of this frustration they questioned what would happen if they were
to try teaching parents some of the simple techniques they used in their
classrooms. Could they teach parents how to teach their values, morals, and
ethics to their own children? They believed that if parents knew how to
instruct their children in effective decision-making and how to set
guidelines for making decisions, it could make a difference in their
classrooms.
Permission was obtained from school principals and Mac and Barbara held the
first of what was to become a parent education curriculum that is now
entitled Parenting with Dignity. Only a small group of parents attended that
first class, but within weeks they began to notice a profound effect in
their classrooms. Students were attending class more regularly, and someone
at home had actually convinced them of the importance of doing homework.
Noticeable changes in personal grooming, and perceptible changes in the
vocabulary of their students convinced Mac and Barbara that they were onto
something.
Parenting with Dignity evolved into a nine-week course over the years as the
program became more comprehensive and fine-tuned to today’s problems. Mac
and Barbara were teaching PWD at community colleges, hospitals and in PTAs
of Northwestern States when their oldest son Drew approached them with an
idea. Drew, a quarterback in the NFL at this time, explained that he wanted
to build a foundation to support and promote their Parenting with Dignity
program. After considerable deliberation, Mac accepted the challenge and
founded the Drew Bledsoe Foundation as a support mechanism to bring
Parenting with Dignity to the entire nation. The rest is history. Parenting
with Dignity is now one of America’s most effective and highly acclaimed
parent education curriculums.
Have Mac speak at your next function |
