I Got a Better Idea: Light Bulb Moments from the Life of a High School Principal

To begin, Dr. Burry has written about learning experiences in his life that range from the time he was a high school student himself until he walked the halls of his alma mater as principal of the school. A second section recounts his time teaching at a juvenile corrections school, and how that experience impacted his philosophy of education, personally and professionally. The next section tells stories of his thirty-one-year coaching career, from his time learning as a rookie football coach, to his sideline antics as a basketball coach, and finally as a tennis coach who won a championship by knowing enough to just drive the bus. Another section of the book recalls the summer jobs he worked while he was in high school and college, bucket list experiences that included shooting baskets on the parquet floor of the old Boston Garden, and his first trans-Atlantic flight to London. His exploits as a practical joker while accompanied by two of the best friends of his life are safely revealed (the statute of limitations having expired) in another section. In a sixth section, Dr. Burry introduces readers to people who made him a better person simply with their friendship and the way they lived their lives. The final section offers bits of better advice gleaned from his own life experiences in parenting, coaching, leading a school, and riding a unicycle.

This book of light bulb moments, stories, and life lessons comes from the mind of a man who believes that people should never stop learning. Those life lessons - taught through victory and defeat, heartache and humor, good fortune and fate, friendship and forgiveness - are the things which make us better people. Reading is one good way to learn, and maybe to have the thought cross one's mind occasionally that "I got a better idea." For Dr. Burry, knowing that his career in education may be contributing in a different manner to people's lives has been most rewarding.

Dr. Burry is a 1969 graduate of Hartsville High School. He received his B.A. degree in History in 1973 from Furman University, a Master of Education (M.Ed.) degree from Francis Marion University (College) in 1976, and in 1993 completed his Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) degree in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of South Carolina. Burry began his teaching and coaching career in 1973 with the Department of Juvenile Justice at the South Carolina School for Boys in Florence, South Carolina, as a physical education teacher and at Francis Marion College as a graduate assistant basketball coach. He taught social studies and coached basketball and football at Gilbert High School in Lexington County, South Carolina, for two years before returning to Hartsville in 1978. Burry taught US History and Sociology for nine years at Hartsville High School, was a guidance counselor for 17 years, and became principal of Hartsville High School in July 2004. He coached in the Red Fox football program for 26 years, working as a varsity assistant from 1987 through 2003, and coached basketball and tennis at other times during a 31-year coaching career prior to becoming principal. Burry served as the AAAA Representative on the Executive Committee of the South Carolina High School League from 2014 until 2018 and was recognized by the South Carolina Athletic Administrators Association as the 2018 AAAA Principal of the Year. He was also honored with the 2014-15 Distinguished Principal Award by the Darlington County School District. Burry retired in June 2018 after 45 years in public education - 40 of which were at Hartsville High School - and completed the last 14 years of his career as principal of the school.

Dr. Burry is a member of First Baptist Church in Hartsville where he taught Sunday school for several years and chaired the Board of Deacons on three occasions. He enjoys watching sports, listening to music, reading, writing, kayaking on Black Creek near Hartsville, South Carolina, and spending time in the Blue Ridge Mountains near Saluda, North Carolina. Burry is married to the former Debby Sturgeon of Columbia, South Carolina, who is a retired registered nurse. They have two daughters, Beth and Caye - both graduates of Hartsville High School and Furman University - who are highly successful in their own personal and professional lives.