Brig has over 25 years of experience in education. He has been a principal, an assistant principal, and has taught at the middle and high school levels in inner-city, suburban, and rural schools. He has also been an adjunct professor at Colorado Christian University.
“The most important time is not while I am with a school, but what happens after I leave.” – Brig
Publications
- “A Vision for a School: An unexpected bedrock for change” published in Principal Leadership, March 2018
- “How I Learned the Value of a True PLC” published in Phi Delta Kappan, March 2014
- “Collaborative Teaming – The Principal’s Best Friend” article on ASCD: MyTeachSource, July 2017
Philosophy
- “I love to make difficult things seem simple.” – Brig
- Whether it is the PLC process, formulating a shared school vision, crafting essential skills as a team, or developing consensus as a large group, these can be broken down into very doable steps
- “Focused discussion increases the learning.” – Brig
- When working with others, it is my experience that whoever is doing the talking, the reading, and the writing… that person is doing the learning.
Education
- Bachelor of Science, Civil Engineering with Honors, United States Coast Guard Academy
- Master of Arts, Educational Leadership, Colorado Mesa University
- Master of Arts, Business Administration, Colorado Mesa University
Under Brig’s visionary leadership as principal, Fruita Middle School’s organizational health index grew from the lowest to the highest levels. This collaborative transformation propelled a school previously known for teacher independence to national model PLC status, one of only three schools in the state to receive this designation.
During the transformation, Fruita Middle School was the only middle school in the district recognized for achieving student growth above the state median in every tested subject, in all grades, and with every demographic group of students measured by the State of Colorado. In 2017 and again in 2018, Fruita Middle School made the Seattle-based GettingSmart.com’s list of 85 schools in the nation that other educators should visit.
As a teacher, Brig learned the power of the PLC process firsthand, as his math team grew students more than any other team, in any grade, in any tested subject in his 22,000-student school district. While teaching, Brig taught classroom management to other teachers in his school, his district, and at conferences in California and Colorado.
Education is Brig’s second career, following his successful service as an officer in the U.S. Coast Guard, having attained the rank of lieutenant commander. He graduated with honors from the United States Coast Guard Academy with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and served as an officer for many years on humanitarian missions around the nation. He was selected as a Troops-to-Teachers recipient and has a master’s degree in business administration and a master’s degree in educational leadership, both from Colorado Mesa University.
Brig also trains teachers and principals to utilize the PLC and RTI process effectively to ensure student learning, in a collaborative culture, with a focus on results. Brig’s work has been published with ASCD, Phi Delta Kappan, and Principal Leadership magazines. He was also an adjunct professor at Colorado Christian University where he taught classroom management to teacher candidates. His first book, Singletons in a PLC at Work, was published in 2022 by Solution Tree Press and has sold over eight thousand copies. His second book, The PLC Dashboard was published in 2025 to help school leaders start and sustain the PLC process simply and effectively.
Brig and his wife Kim have three daughters and live in Grand Junction, Colorado. They love to camp, explore, read, write, play pickleball, and keep up with their daughters’ athletic and academic pursuits.
