Jim Stevenson’s Biography

Childhood:
Jim was born on March 21st, 1956 in Mishawaka, Indiana. He was raised in Osceola, Indiana, and lived in the same house from the time he was born until he joined the United States Army when he was eighteen. Like Jeff, the main character in his novel 5K Runner, Jim has two older brothers that were the true “Super Jocks” in high school. His two older brothers, Glen and Dan, are eight and six years older than Jim, and his sister Deb is three years younger. Jim’s maternal grandmother lived with the family and had made it her responsibility to give him extra attention to ensure that he did not become the over looked middle child between two older brothers and a baby sister.Jim was the proverbial late bloomer.
Being legally blind in one eye and having some minor learning difficulties, Jim struggled through the first six years of school. Unlike most teachers, Jim was a below average student making mostly C’s with some D’s in elementary school. Spelling and handwriting were especially difficult for him. Jim did not get his first “B” until he was in Jr. High, although he also received his first, and only “F”, on a report card during the same year. Ironically, his most difficult and challenging subject was always English. Jim started to excel in school when some special teachers took an interest in him and started telling him he had a lot of potential. By his freshman year Jim was a B & C student. In high school he had an outstanding English teacher, Mr. Vitale. It was Mr. Vitale that convinced Jim he was an above average student. By his senior year, he was an A & B student, and made the “Honor Roll” for the first time in his life. During the second semester of his senior year, he made the “High Honor Roll” by earning an A average in all of his classes. Jim started writing when he was in eighth grade. He wrote poetry for extra credit to help raise his English grade. A few years later Jim started writing lyrics and songs.

Military & College:
One week after he graduated Jim was off to basic training at Fort Polk, LA. He was stationed in Bremerhaven, Germany for one year. For six months he served as the Bremerhaven Communications Center Data Control and Public Relations officer. Jim experimented with his first attempts at writing by publishing a monthly newsletter for communication center. Jim received two letters of commendation while he was stationed in Germany, and when he left he received “Life Membership to the Bremerhaven Military Community” for recognition of outstanding community service. In 1977 Jim received his honorable discharge from the Army and used the G.I. Bill to go to college. Jim attended Indiana University at South Bend for the next four years.

Teaching:
Jim got his first teaching job at Howe Military School. After one more year of harsh winters, he made the decision to move to the Southwest. Jim moved to Beeville, Texas in 1982. Jim has lived and taught in Texas for more than 22 years. He married his wife Beverly, and they have two daughters, Stephanie and Stacy. He has been teaching reading or English in the intermediate and/or junior high classroom for the past 23 years. In addition to his B.S. degree from Indiana University, he earned his masters at the University of Houston at Victoria. He is a member of the Texas Education Computer Association and The Association of Texas Professional Educators. In 2001, Jim was selected as one of three finalists in the Texas Computer Education Association’s Teacher of the Year Award and was featured on the cover of Tech Edge, the organization's statewide magazine. He is also a past recipient of the Target® Teachers Scholarship, and is also a Capturing Kid Hearts® and a Reading Renaissance® trained instructor.

Producer & Director:
In 1995, Jim opened VideoTech Productions, a video production company that produces special event and training videos. In addition to producing numerous wedding, graduation, and highlight videos, Jim has produced several training and educational videos including one for Waste-Quip May Fab Incorporated that was distributed to their production centers around the world, and a sign language video for Thera-Care Inc. Jim is also the sponsor and created of the TJTV-3 News team at Thomas Jefferson Intermediate School. In 1997, they captured 2nd Place in the Texas Library Association’s State Video Contest.

Trainer/ Presenter:
Jim has also been conducting in-service training sessions and putting on workshops for the past seven years. His ability to understand teachers’ needs, and his ability to help teachers and schools incorporate technology and innovative ideas into their curriculum has made him a popular and in-demand presenter. In the past few years, he has made presentations all over the state of Texas, at regional education service centers, school districts, and state conferences. In 2002, Jim received one of his greatest honors when he became an international presenter and was recognized for his proficiency at using technology in the classroom, when he traveled to Spain after being invited to make a presentation at the 2002 International Council of Educational Media’s technology conference held in Granada, Spain. Jim presented the unit he created and the teacher manual he wrote entitled, Rockin’ Through The 20th Century: The History of Rock and Roll. Jim also wrote The Middle School Handbook for Teachers & Writers of Research Papers.

Author/Speaker:
Although Jim has been writing since he was in high school, he did not start writing seriously until he was in his late thirties. He never pursued publication for his work until 1993. Jim uses his personal experiences, and those of his family and friends, to inspire his writing. Jim has written plays, picture books, and young adult novels that are all in various states of pre-publication. In addition, Jim has written and self-published several teacher manuals and handbooks. 1st Books Library published Jim’s first novel, 5K Runner, in January 2004. Although Jim never ran cross-country, he knows how if feels to struggle to live up to older brothers’ accomplishments. Jim coached track for several years and worked with a high school cross-country team when he was in college in Indiana. Jim also did some running while he was in college and ran in a few road races. He uses his knowledge of distance running to make his book 5K Runner realistic and exciting for his readers. Jim is also a member of The Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators. Jim’s 22 years of experiences as a classroom reading teacher has given him unique insights and understanding of his target audience, adolescent readers.