Brag-Brag
History of a high school principal
Bobby Woodruff

Leonard Speaker was born in Muskogee, Oklahoma.

He Attended School in Shawnee, Okla., until the 8th grade moved to Sherman, Texas and graduated from Sherman High School. Following graduation, Leonard attended Paris Jr. College where he was an All American Football Player. The Quarter Back for Paris was Mr. Phil Wood.

Next, Leonard accepted a Scholarship to Sam Houston State College where he was a Team Mate of Bob Woodruff and the quarterback for the Bearkats was Phil Wood. Leonard was a 3-year starting football player for the Bearkats as a center and line backer.

Following graduation, Leonard began a teaching and coaching career at Cleveland High School.

After a few years as an assistant coach, Leonard was promoted to Head Coach and then Athletic Director for the Cleveland Schools.

After 18 years of coaching and working as an Assistant Principal in Dickinson High School, Leonard received a call from his former Quarter Back, Mr. Phil Wood. Phil wanted Leonard to come to Bullard High School as the Principal.

When Leonard arrived in Bullard, he told Phil that he would take the Position if he could find a home for him and his wife, Betty Sue, to live in.

About two hours later, Leonard found a home and 40 acres of land and accepted the offer to become the principal of Bullard High School and Junior High School in the year 1978.

In 1978, a young English teacher by the name of Lynette Hughes also began her teaching career at Bullard High School. The date was June 12, 1978. This date just happened to be the year that Lynette's daughter was born, so lots of good things were happening that summer.

For Mrs. Hughes the experience of working for Mr. Speaker was almost like working for a Sgt. in the Army. With his Crew Cut Hair style, and his demeanor, Speaker came across to you as the tough Army Man.

But once you got to know Leonard you realized that he was a very caring man. When you were in the office with him and a student, Leonard wanted to do what was best for the student.

Many times Leonard would talk to the students regarding his own experiences of growing up in a tough world and he could relate to the students and give them the advice of his own experiences.

Leonard used what he had learned over the years in working with students to better help the students through some of their tough times in growing up.

In 1979, Berryl Johnson became the Principals Secretary to Speaker. Berryl remembers Speakers Panel Grey Station Wagon.

That was his baby at that time. Later Leonard went through his green Pick Up and presently his Beautiful Chrysler only has about 275,000 miles on it and is still going strong.

Speaker taught Berryl how to organize the office workload; Berryl appreciated how Leonard taught her how to be a school secretary.

Their children started school together and Speaker treated their children just like all the other students and he would discipline them as others. "I remember one time when his son Perry had just marked on a desk.

Leonard grabbed him up and took him into the office and disciplined him". "I was very upset that he was so tough on Perry. I felt that all we had to do was take a wet cloth and wash the mark off. Leonard said, "It's the principle of the thing that counts."

He knew that he had to be consistent and fair with all students including his own children.

One thing about Mr. Speaker was that he was very proud of his Building and he always wanted things clean and in place.

He would not hesitate to lean down and pick up paper off the floor in the hall. He did not wait for the custodian to take care of business.

It would not bother him to go the closet and get the vacuum cleaner and do some touch up work to make things look better in the building.

The big thing about Speaker was that he worked with us to accomplish our goals. We didn't just work for him! Leonard always thought of all the staff as a team and we worked together.

Leonard has always had a great attitude with all the school employees. Speaker did have his humorous side and he truly enjoyed his time working with students.

In 1982 we moved into the new high school on Main Street and 20 years later we moved again to the new school where we are today. With our new bond money we are continuing to build new buildings and facilities.

More and more families are moving into the Bullard district because they recognize the outstanding academic programs and the truly great teachers that we have in our district.

Former students would ask Berryl if Speaker was still the principal and Berryl would say yes, he is still here and they would say "Good, then my kids will be all right because I know that Leonard Speaker will take care of them."

There were times when a student would come in late and tell Speaker that his truck had broken down on the way to School and Leonard would jump in his green truck and he and the student would go out and take care of the problems.

It took a special caring person to give of his time to be sure his students were taken care of.

Now be sure that you understand, that if he needed to use a strong, firm hand in working with his students, Leonard did not hesitate to take care of problems.

This was always out of respect and love for his students that Leonard was willing to take the extra steps.

Former students who now had children in school knew that Leonard would look out for their children and give them the discipline and respect that they deserved.

Jan Berry started teaching at Bullard High School in 1975.

She remembers when Leonard Speaker first arrived at Bullard.

Speaker was always a fair person to work for.

We had a quote in the lounge that spoke about loyalty. Loyalty has always been very important to Speaker. Through the years Speaker has earned the loyalty and respect of the teachers who worked for him.

The first time he retired I was out of the country on a vacation. This time I will be here and get to say good bye to him and thank him for all the years of service to the Bullard Schools.

Not very many people would want to play practical jokes on Speaker or try to tease him, but sometimes, this was Hughes nature to do this!

One year they were having a problem in school with stink bombs.

At this time in her career, Mrs. Hughes was in charge of transportation and her Office was in the same building as Speaker.

Leonard sent Hughes with a student to find a stink bomb and bring it back to his office.

When they brought the stink bomb back to Leonard, he began wrapping it up in paper and said that he was saving this for Evidence.

Hughes knew that when Leonard got his big stapler out that they were going to have a problem.

Sure enough when he stapled right into that Stink Bomb, they had to clear out of the office quickly! Mrs. Hughes began to laugh and Leonard told her, "that's not funny Lynette," of course Lynette said. "Oh yes it was funny".

Hughes knows that even though Leonard is a serious person,

Once you get that one sided grin out of him, you know that you have got to his happy go lucky side. He likes to have his fun also!

Lynette feels that she was lucky working for and with Speaker because their children grew up together in the Bullard School System.

Leonard has a wonderful family and his wife, Betty Sue, was the school secretary to Hughes at the elementary school.

Betty Sue was a top notch secretary and a wonderful lady.

Both of the Speaker sons were fantastic young men and this was due to Leonard and Betty Sue bringing them up in the world and teaching them right from wrong.

One thing to admire about Leonard was the time that he gave to Bullard High School.

Most important though was the fact that his family came first in his life. Leonard is a fine Christian man and he and Betty Sue raised their children in a religious atmosphere.

In 1992, Leonard decided to retire as principal at Bullard because of some health problems.

Following his recovery, Leonard decided to, once again join Phil Wood who had taken the job as superintendent of the Neches schools.

Leonard became the counselor for Neches and worked there for six years.

When Phil Wood made the decision to retire as superintendent of Neches, Leonard once again consulted with Jim Wright, Bullard Superintendent, and was hired for a second time as the principal of BHS in1997.

Leonard had told Wright that he was tired of riding that tractor and doing that brush hogging thing and he was ready to return to the school business.

Wright felt that Speaker was a man of high-level energy and he had a lot to contribute to the school program.

"I felt that Leonard could help with the building climate and the environment in the school program," Wright said. "I feel that he certainly fulfilled that role very well.

"You cannot have a good educational program without students being aware that they are there for an education.

Some people may feel that Leonard talks in a tough, gruff voice, but Wright has heard from many students and parents how they appreciate the direction and tempo that Speaker has set for them.

Once students graduate high school they know that they are prepared for the outside world.

Wright knows that behind that gruff exterior, Speaker has a heart of gold.

Leonard will always make decisions that are in the best interest of the students based on the guidelines set down by the BISD Board of Trustees.

Wright has always felt that Leonard works well with the teachers and he empowers them with the freedom to do their job and he will always be there to support them as needed.

Wright said he can give Leonard a big thank you for his years of service to the district.

Leonard has had a great career at Bullard and we wish him the best as he retires from the district at the end of this school year.

I tip my hat to him and know he is ready to have time to work in his shop and play some golf and spend time with his family and be ready to accomplish all those Honey Do Jobs that Betty Sue has lined up for him.

The biggest thing about Speaker has always been his relations with his students.

He always respected the students and even though his was was tough sometimes, they respected him for his concern for what was best for them.

Just last night at a parent conference at cchool, one of the parents, who was a former student of Speaker told Hughes that she had heard Speaker was going to retire just as her daughter was going into high school.

Her comment was, "What am I going to do now? I need for Mr. Speaker to be there and take care of my daughter."

Speaker will be missed by Bullard High School.

Leonard is not leaving the community, he and Betty Sue have been in this community since 1978 and they will remain here and you can bet that he will still be involved with the schools because now he has his grandkids that will be in the school system in the near future.