It's hard for the author to believe that three people who greatly influenced his career and the careers of many other school leaders all passed away just days apart at the beginning of this year. He began his career in public education in the Riverside Unified School District in 1972, following eight years as a teacher and administrator at LaSalle High School in Pasadena. Bob Flores, the first Latino high school principal in Riverside, hired him as one of his two assistant principals at Arlington High School in its first year of operation. His colleague was Horace Jackson, principal at North High School, and the superintendent was Ray Berry. The author didn't know at the beginning how fortunate he was to be in a district with these three strong leaders. He learned so much from all of them, and they changed his life forever.