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Wiles brings working parent's perspective
By Kevin Carr
Contributing Writer
Columbus Post
Mike Wiles has a long history with the Columbus Public Schools.
The South Side resident attended the city’s schools, as did his three children. The son of a single mother and an absentee father, Wiles says he had a tough upbringing. Over the years, the neglect and hardship took its toll.
“I was a very angry young man,” Wiles told the Columbus Post. “When I got to junior high school, I was a terror. I would fight at the drop of a hat. I was an at-risk child before they even had the term.”
Wiles knows what motivates children with discipline problems because he’s been there himself.
“There’s nobody else on the board who has the background I have,” he said. “I know what motivates these kids to get into these situations. I know how to reach these kids.”
A truck driver by trade, Wiles first became seriously involved in community activism for the schools in 1992 when his oldest son went back to high school. After watching the junior varsity baseball team having to shuffle equipment during practice because there wasn’t enough to go around, he told the coach that someone ought to do something about the situation.
“Then it hit me like a ton of bricks,” Wiles recalled. “I’m the one who ought to do something.”
Wiles became involved in committees and activism in his local system. Throughout the years, he has been involved with the PTA, the Boosters, the Alumni Association, Schools Continuous Improvement Planning Team and School Continuous Improvement Team of South High School. However, even with all this involvement, Wiles felt frustrated.
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