- Joined
- Jun 12, 2008
- Messages
- 7
i read something interesting today and i thought id share with you guys.. it appears the tracker school is broke or is going broke... that or tom brown just doesnt wanna pay the people he hires because hed rather spend the money on material things such as hummers but anyway ill shut up and let you guys read what i read its really an interesting read....
Hi all. The following email was sent to me by another tracker student. I have worked with George and Vanessa more than once or twice - for them to send an email like this is very uncharactoristic but does bespeak some problems that are going on. I will only say to use your best judgment, follow your heart. I will not judge anyone for whatever they choose in relation to this subject, but I do think it is important. George and Vanessa are both very ethical, work very hard and deserve to be paid for the work they provided. Just my 2 cents...
Tim
Hello Everyone,
Vanessa and I hope you are all doing well.
The reason we're contacting you, is because we need your help. For those of you who do not know, Vanessa and I were approached and consequently hired by Tracker to improve the School's relationship with it's students.
I'm guessing it was because of our 22 year relationship with Tracker, and the well known fact that we as teachers, always put the students first. However, before we even came onboard, I told Karl Direske "If we are successful at doing the job you're hiring us for,then we won't last a year". There's a reason you don't see the same people on the Instructor Staff year after year. Egos are too fragile at the top, and we by being good at what we do, consequently stepped on those frailties.
Sure enough, we didn't last a year. However, judging from the comments we received from you guys while we were on staff, and the
emails we've received since, we had held up our end of the deal.
Unfortunately, Tracker hasn't honored theirs.
The Scout Protector Class was originally conceived, as well as named by Paul Bonner, Vanessa and myself and taught by the same, for the last 15 years with the Old Man's blessings. Last year Karl informed us that Tracker, for the first time, would collect the tuition for this class and then pay us. Needless to say, Vanessa and I had our misgivings, which were justified, as we are still waiting to receive the several thousand dollars for teaching that class we held the first week of September of 2007. Hell people, Vanessa just received the last of her payroll checks a couple of months ago (She finished working at Tracker in December 07). I'm thinking it was my non-to- subtle reminder to Karl that there are federal laws governing the withholding of an employee's payroll, that finally got Vanessa her last couple of checks.
Even though we have a signed letter from Karl stating that we would be paid for the Scout Protector Class by June 1st of this year, that deadline has come and gone. Vanessa has been in contact with Karl
almost weekly since April of this year. Each time it was some
excuse, but the gist of it was it was that Tracker was broke and just
didn't have the money. I don't know about you, but in my mind's eye
I'm seeing two Hummers parked in the drive... we should all be that kind of poor. Even "perceived threats" (I called them promises) on my part, which were non physical in nature, had no effect.
What Vanessa and I are asking of you, that is if you thought we had a positive "affect" on your experience at Tracker, is to email Karl at this, his public email address KDireske@TRACKERSCHOOL.COM, and let him know how you feel about them not paying us for services rendered. We only had several hundred of you guys' email addresses, so feel free to pass this on to any other students you think might be interested.
Look guys, I'm no Saint and never claimed to be. However, Vanessa deserves better than this from the individuals at Tracker who constantly claim the high ground, by referring to the rest of society as "The Mindless Gray Masses", a label by the way, we've never agreed with.
Remember, we were the ones walking the roads with you before and after an exercise, shunning a ride out and back, as well as lending an ear when one was needed. Hell, we even tried to call you by your first names, a mental exercise in of itself with a new class every other week.
Truth be told, they were probably expecting a letter from our attorney, but I wanted to give them something more powerful to contend with for now, and I can think of nothing more meaningful or more
powerful, then you guys voicing your opinion concerning this matter.
Please accept our heart felt thanks in advance.
On a different note, Ness and I are both working uniformed security for the County's economic assistance (welfare) buildings. We moved into a 825 square foot "Art Deco" style 10 unit building, which is a 5 minute walk from the lakes here in Minneapolis, 8 minute walk to the gym and also a block away from a nicely stocked grocery store (I've really gotten into the cooking thing). We both ride our bikes to work together at 5:00AM every morning (it was snowing last Friday morning) and couldn't be happier! Instead of just talking about the environment, we're attempting to make ours a smaller "footprint".
Finally, and we mean this from the bottom of our hearts, it was you and only you the students, that made our time at Tracker, memorable... everything else was "smoke and mirrors".
Oh, I almost forgot, when we first started there we were told by the office staff and instructors to never give out our personal email addresses or phone numbers to you the students (something about "you'd always be bothering us at all hours of the day"). So, being who we are, we put them up on the board every class we could and told you that you could contact us anytime... that offer still stands. My phone number is
(612) 669-8687. Ness's is (612) 850-7197 and her email address is nessherbst@mac.com . Let us know how you're doing. Take care and thanks for the memories.
"May you be granted in life... that which you deserve"
George & Vanessa
Please feel free to contact me with any questions- Peace to you and your family, Tim Flynn Director, St. Louis Association for Primitive Skills and Tracking www.geocities.com/track_stl track_stl@hotmail.com "Where's Your Wild?" ***************** ATTENTION: Please let us know in advance of your attendance plans for upcoming meetings or workshops.
Hi all. The following email was sent to me by another tracker student. I have worked with George and Vanessa more than once or twice - for them to send an email like this is very uncharactoristic but does bespeak some problems that are going on. I will only say to use your best judgment, follow your heart. I will not judge anyone for whatever they choose in relation to this subject, but I do think it is important. George and Vanessa are both very ethical, work very hard and deserve to be paid for the work they provided. Just my 2 cents...
Tim
Hello Everyone,
Vanessa and I hope you are all doing well.
The reason we're contacting you, is because we need your help. For those of you who do not know, Vanessa and I were approached and consequently hired by Tracker to improve the School's relationship with it's students.
I'm guessing it was because of our 22 year relationship with Tracker, and the well known fact that we as teachers, always put the students first. However, before we even came onboard, I told Karl Direske "If we are successful at doing the job you're hiring us for,then we won't last a year". There's a reason you don't see the same people on the Instructor Staff year after year. Egos are too fragile at the top, and we by being good at what we do, consequently stepped on those frailties.
Sure enough, we didn't last a year. However, judging from the comments we received from you guys while we were on staff, and the
emails we've received since, we had held up our end of the deal.
Unfortunately, Tracker hasn't honored theirs.
The Scout Protector Class was originally conceived, as well as named by Paul Bonner, Vanessa and myself and taught by the same, for the last 15 years with the Old Man's blessings. Last year Karl informed us that Tracker, for the first time, would collect the tuition for this class and then pay us. Needless to say, Vanessa and I had our misgivings, which were justified, as we are still waiting to receive the several thousand dollars for teaching that class we held the first week of September of 2007. Hell people, Vanessa just received the last of her payroll checks a couple of months ago (She finished working at Tracker in December 07). I'm thinking it was my non-to- subtle reminder to Karl that there are federal laws governing the withholding of an employee's payroll, that finally got Vanessa her last couple of checks.
Even though we have a signed letter from Karl stating that we would be paid for the Scout Protector Class by June 1st of this year, that deadline has come and gone. Vanessa has been in contact with Karl
almost weekly since April of this year. Each time it was some
excuse, but the gist of it was it was that Tracker was broke and just
didn't have the money. I don't know about you, but in my mind's eye
I'm seeing two Hummers parked in the drive... we should all be that kind of poor. Even "perceived threats" (I called them promises) on my part, which were non physical in nature, had no effect.
What Vanessa and I are asking of you, that is if you thought we had a positive "affect" on your experience at Tracker, is to email Karl at this, his public email address KDireske@TRACKERSCHOOL.COM, and let him know how you feel about them not paying us for services rendered. We only had several hundred of you guys' email addresses, so feel free to pass this on to any other students you think might be interested.
Look guys, I'm no Saint and never claimed to be. However, Vanessa deserves better than this from the individuals at Tracker who constantly claim the high ground, by referring to the rest of society as "The Mindless Gray Masses", a label by the way, we've never agreed with.
Remember, we were the ones walking the roads with you before and after an exercise, shunning a ride out and back, as well as lending an ear when one was needed. Hell, we even tried to call you by your first names, a mental exercise in of itself with a new class every other week.
Truth be told, they were probably expecting a letter from our attorney, but I wanted to give them something more powerful to contend with for now, and I can think of nothing more meaningful or more
powerful, then you guys voicing your opinion concerning this matter.
Please accept our heart felt thanks in advance.
On a different note, Ness and I are both working uniformed security for the County's economic assistance (welfare) buildings. We moved into a 825 square foot "Art Deco" style 10 unit building, which is a 5 minute walk from the lakes here in Minneapolis, 8 minute walk to the gym and also a block away from a nicely stocked grocery store (I've really gotten into the cooking thing). We both ride our bikes to work together at 5:00AM every morning (it was snowing last Friday morning) and couldn't be happier! Instead of just talking about the environment, we're attempting to make ours a smaller "footprint".
Finally, and we mean this from the bottom of our hearts, it was you and only you the students, that made our time at Tracker, memorable... everything else was "smoke and mirrors".
Oh, I almost forgot, when we first started there we were told by the office staff and instructors to never give out our personal email addresses or phone numbers to you the students (something about "you'd always be bothering us at all hours of the day"). So, being who we are, we put them up on the board every class we could and told you that you could contact us anytime... that offer still stands. My phone number is(612) 669-8687. Ness's is (612) 850-7197 and her email address is nessherbst@mac.com . Let us know how you're doing. Take care and thanks for the memories.
"May you be granted in life... that which you deserve"
George & Vanessa
Please feel free to contact me with any questions- Peace to you and your family, Tim Flynn Director, St. Louis Association for Primitive Skills and Tracking www.geocities.com/track_stl track_stl@hotmail.com "Where's Your Wild?" ***************** ATTENTION: Please let us know in advance of your attendance plans for upcoming meetings or workshops.
