n the light and airy fourth-grade classroom at the Bowman public school in Lexington, Massachusetts, the desks are clustered back-to-back in groups of five, forming a series of islands. In one corner, a large spider web made of aluminum is reflecting rays of light around the room. Colorful projects-in-process, addressing topics in history, social studies, and science, line the walls. Standing in the midst of this cheery clutter is corporate executive turned newly certified grade-school teacher, Bill Cassell.

"Like most callings, this one evolved over many years of puzzlement, exploration, and discovery," Cassell explains. In fact, its origins date back to Cassell's arrival at Soldiers Field. As an HBS student, he began to reevaluate his beliefs about learning and education after his first encounter with the case method. "There were no questions to answer at the end of thirty to fifty pages of situational descriptions, which we quickly understood were incomplete anyway," he recalls. "It was a thought-provoking revelation about the nature of learning."

From 1976 to 1992, Cassell's interest in teaching deepened as he trained managers, supervisors, and foremen from the news-paper industry while working as director of operations at Beacon Communications Corporation in Acton, Massachusetts. "I studied the factors that made some companies successful," he says, "and discovered that the few companies that stay on the A list often have an organizational culture that promotes questioning and learning."

Cassell immersed himself in the writings of cutting-edge thinkers and research on the subject of learning. "I came across more and more material that criticized the traditional processes of education that had been the basis of my schooling right up to college," he explains.

Two watershed events in 1992 provoked further introspection for Cassell: his father died, and, several months later, he and his wife, Bernadine, became the adoptive parents of a baby boy, Alex. "As these events unfolded," says Cassell, "I realized that life was short and that being a full-time dad was more important to me than further professional advancement. I decided to resign from Beacon and make a living consulting."

Cassell also began getting involved with his hometown public school. While lending his skills to a woodworking project, he met Bowman teacher Steve Levy, whose encouragement and example helped Cassell consider becoming a teacher himself. "It was fascinating to observe how Steve's channeling of the children's excitement about their ideas led students to 'discover' things such as drawing to scale and abstract mathematical concepts," Cassell says. Inspired, he returned to graduate school, earned a master's in education, and is currently substitute teaching in anticipation of a full-time position.

As the father of now seven-year-old Alex, Cassell has already found satisfaction contributing to his son's "confidence and interest in learning." That individual labor of love seems, on a broader scale, to inform his commitment to his new career as well. Says Cassell, "I have come to believe that elementary education is the best place for me to influence the future."

by Eileen McCluskey

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Charles W. Cassell	Alfred A. Checchi	Robert F. Diromualdo	Kenneth A. Goldman	Peter G. Harf	Nancy J. Karch	Antoinette J. Rapone	W. Mitt Romney