PAUL WOOD

Deacon and director of technology

Bishop Dunne High School, class of 1974

SCHOOL DAYS: Wood’s older brother and sister attended the school before him.

“My parents were very involved, so we were just kind of up here as children,” he says.

He entered Bishop Dunne as a seventh-grader. As a student, he was involved in several sports and extracurricular activities, including football, baseball, basketball and student council.

HELPING KIDS: As a high school student, Wood said he considered working in a setting where he would be able to help kids. “I could see some of the struggles my friends went through during school, and I always thought it would be nice to be in a setting like that — to maybe help their struggle through school be a little smoother, maybe help reduce some of the obstacles.”

THE JOURNEY BACK: Wood attended the University of Dallas, where he played baseball and majored in psychology. He had the opportunity to assist with Bishop Dunne’s baseball program the last semester of his senior year.

After he graduated, the school hired him to teach theology and social studies. He taught at Bishop Dunne for two years, left for one year, and then returned the following year.

Wood interviewed with other Catholic schools in Dallas, but decided to return to his alma mater.

“It was familiar. It was home. It was comfortable. I wanted to make a difference where I grew up,” he says.

WHAT’S DIFFERENT: In fall 1966, when Wood was a Bishop Dunne seventh-grader, the school was split by gender.

“As far as the brothers of the Sacred Heart and the sisters of Saint Mary were concerned, never the two shall meet. Except maybe at lunch or in chapel.”

The school became co-ed his sophomore year. Now, Wood says, girls and boys attending Bishop Dunne have almost an equal number of athletic opportunities available to them.

TECHNOLOGY: As director of technology, Wood works to keep the school up to date.

“Some of the things we do technology-wise, I think we kind of try to push the envelope,” he says.

Ultimately, though, Wood says he and his team use technology to benefit teachers in their teaching and students in their learning.

“I just think it’s fun,” he says. “I’ve been here 35 years, and I’m having a good time. I don’t think I’d trade it for anything.”