Building Relationships to Build a More Just Society

Faculty Spotlight: Will Walsh

Like so many BTC instructors who come from an industry background, Will Walsh started his career not as a teacher but as a Marine. As a Marine, he learned many leadership and social skills that are required to succeed in the classroom. After finishing military service, he transitioned to a City of Milwaukee Police Lieutenant, where he was responsible for training and leading special interdiction teams with S.W.A.T. Today he's retired from active duty but is still passionate about providing quality education to law enforcement students.

As a student, Will was always excited about learning, even though sometimes it was a struggle. The more he learned, discovered, and matured, "I realized that there just weren't many people that looked like me or came from my shared background."

To help students understand and engage with contemporary social issues, Will brings in individuals from diverse populations to talk to his class about their experience as members of a specific cultural group and their interactions with law enforcement. Will believes it is vital to "bring real-world conversations, perspective, cultures, and beliefs into the classroom to study them up close and raw."

When Will started at BTC, he was given a USB flash drive with Criminal Justice coursework and a file cabinet with scantron sheets for testing. As he got settled in his position, Will was excited to use the technology available and has embraced Blackboard, Starfish, Zoom, SumTotal, and FAQS courses to connect and keep up with students. Like many instructors, he has shifted and changed over the past year as the pandemic affected his classroom work.

"I have found myself being more dexterous in my teaching delivery," he said. "I am now teaching classes face-to-face, Zoom, and internet-based delivery all in one class. This all impacts my students on how they receive the course content along with the big elephant in the room, dealing with the pandemic itself.  So, overall, this has been a wonderful test of my abilities to reach my students, help them learn, and build relationships with them over the various instructional platforms."

Building relationships and supporting students has always been Will's number one objective. He sees himself as his students' biggest cheerleader and advocate. "Let us get to know you and allow yourself to get to know us," he recommended to them, believing that connection is one of BTC's most significant assets. Blackhawk's smaller size allows instructors to know their students by name, learn their stories, and support them individually and collectively.

Married for more than 32 years, Will enjoys time with his wife, daughters, and grandson. He also continues to learn about new industries and is a man of many talents. He has published a science fiction novel, developed a board game, and is an amateur explorer in metaphysics and quantum mechanics. Here at BTC, as we learn more about him, we wonder, is there anything Will cannot do?

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