Jim Hightower - director of operations of four local Domino's pizza stores owned by his wife, Missy, as well as a recent school board member - is a restless soul. Always looking for new challenges, he is currently preparing to go partners with his son in two Domino's stores in Great Falls, Mont. Not bad for a man who didn't taste his first pizza until he was 14.

In addition to his business interests, Hightower served on the Coeur d'Alene school board from August of last year through the end of his term this June.

Before you were appointed to the school board, what preconceived ideas did you have about what went on there?

First off, I have to say that being on the school board was probably the most satisfying experience of my life for that type of thing.

I came in with the view that it was going to be a bunch of liberals - I'm politically a conservative - and I expected it to be really messed up. A lot of people thought the money wasn't being managed well.

Instead, what I found after going through the current books line-by-line - and for the previous year - was a superintendent and board that had been completely responsible. There was no wasted money.

I discovered very quickly that we were lucky to have Hazel Bauman on board. She was very conservative in many ways and had done an excellent job. I was surprised at the high level of competence - what I found was a really excellent school system and a fabulous superintendent.

Did you ever have any trying times there?

Well, I was in the middle of a controversy right off.

I was sworn in and right away the discussion was the IB (International Baccalaureate) program. By my second meeting, I had to educate myself on the program and it was a difficult vote for me. I could see the good side - great teaching methodology, higher standards than regular Idaho standards and teachers really liked it. What made up my mind to remove it from the school system was that it also teaches values - it imposes values on kids - and I just didn't think that was right, no matter what kind of values. It was teaching the global citizen view.

The IB vote particularly troubled me. I (worried) about how tough a decision it was going to be because no matter how I voted, I was going to disappoint a large group of people.

While I was on the board, I recall being demonized on the blogs as an ogre that eats little children - it was bizarre.

After almost a year on the board, what did you learn?

I learned it's not that education in Idaho is necessarily underfunded, it's the priorities of the funding that need to be looked at and changed. I learned that too much money goes to secondary education, while not nearly enough is spent on grade school and junior high.

I became an advocate for education funding and how to prioritize it. I also became a huge fan of school teachers. These people are dedicated pros.

What about the educational nonprofit you've been trying to set up?

I'm looking for people to serve on a board with me to fund a nonprofit corporation. I want to collect donations and present the funds to the superintendent for the purpose of funding school supplies and teacher training.

To do this, I would hit businesses up for donations to raise this money. When budgets get tight, among the first things cut are training and development.

People don't realize the budget is so tight. School teachers end up spending their own money for supplies or else they don't. Who gets hurt in this are, of course, the students.

As a businessman I know that if you develop your employees, you have a good business. If you develop your teachers, you end up with better students.

You've been in the hospitality business for most of your life. Is this because you enjoy it or because of family pressure?

My father owned a restaurant and when I was seven years old I was bussing tables. Truth was I wasn't any good at it because I couldn't reach the dish machine and that really upset me.

My father never forced me into the business. If anything, early on, when I was singing (in a band), he pushed me to be a singer. He was so proud of me.

So how did you end up in restaurants?

To make a living. I found out that what I'm good at is managing people and that's probably because I learned early that people don't want to be managed. You can't motivate people, but you can create an environment where people motivate themselves.

How do you create this environment?

You treat people right - it's only common sense. You're positive with your employees. If you catch them doing something right, you praise them in public.

I have a lot of kids that this is their first job. It's a responsibility to have the right values and to teach them the importance of integrity.

In my job, I'm a teacher, a psychologist, a sociologist, a janitor, a babysitter and a parent.

I'm doing what I love.

Have you been through any financial down times?

Several years ago I was director of operations for 26 Domino's in Tucson and Southern Arizona. I guess we all want to do better and always think there are greener pastures, so in 2005, my wife and I borrowed a million dollars and built four Domino's in Wichita, Kan., and everything went great at the start. By the way, I don't own any Domino's, it's my wife who does.

But then the great recession of 2008 hit us about 18 months before the rest of the nation - there were Boeing layoffs and suddenly 10,000 people were gone within three to four months.

I ended up quitting my job (in Arizona) and moved to Wichita to try to salvage things. We ended up closing two stores. We lost a fortune and that debt still follows us. It's just heartbreaking - it was a monumental loss

Still, I do think that in life it's all about how you handle failure, not about how you handle success.

You grew up in Alamogordo, N.M., and were born just five years after the first atomic bomb test there. What were your childhood experiences regarding the Atomic Age?

The worst recurring dream I've ever had started when I was seven. Even though I wasn't there at the time of the explosion, in my dream I'm watching the atomic bomb explode over the mountains of Alamogordo.

The nuclear age began 45 miles from my home and the community was proud of that fact. My dad told me he couldn't sleep that night - July 16 - that it was hot and he was up before dawn and outside smoking a cigarette. All of a sudden, he said, the night sky completely lit up and stayed that way for maybe 15 seconds before the light gradually died out.

You know, I was a Democrat for 30 years and what made me change was Ronald Reagan and wanting to end the threat of nuclear war by implementing Star Wars laser weapon technology.

Was there a sense of fear in Alamagordo during your childhood?

I clearly remember the first few grades in school when we had these drills and had to take cover under our school desks. I also recall the ranchers talking about their cows - about how their hair had turned completely white (after the test).

You were raised in and around restaurants. How has the business changed?

When we started, we were writing on a guest check. Everything was done by hand and at the end of the day, the manager had to add up the records.

Today we do nothing by hand and the computers do all the calculations. The problem is that when the computers go down, it's like the worst thing in the world for some employees. I've had young ladies burst into tears.

The Internet made an amazing transformation in our lives; 40 percent of our sales come in on the Internet.

As a businessman, what concerns you about our local economy?

We (Domino's) have been fabulously successful in the past three years, but I'm losing employees in Coeur d'Alene because often their husbands can't find jobs here.

I think our economy in Coeur d'Alene is precarious. Whether we like it or not, we haven't diversified enough away from tourism. Thank God our tourism is a huge thing, but I do think we need to continue to try to bring more companies here to create good jobs. We need more industry - we have one of the most beautiful places on earth - this is an asset we can use to get businesses to relocate here.

Do you plan to run for any public positions?

I do have a desire to serve again and the reason I didn't run for the school board position was I was involved (at that time) in business opportunities in Great Falls with my son and knew I wouldn't have the time to serve.

At some point in the future, I can envision having that time. I'm interested in what the legislature does in terms of education and I can see myself running for state office, perhaps, one day. But don't rule out a local situation, either.

Got any dreams for the future?

Well, I'd like to play golf with my grandchildren - and, if I'm lucky, with my great-grandchildren.

I also want to build a restaurant in Coeur d'Alene that's not a pizza restaurant.

And don't forget my nonprofit idea for funding school supplies and teacher training. All I need are two or three community activists who'd be willing to serve on the board, ask for a few donations, audit the bank account and attend a monthly one-hour meeting. This is really a big dream of mine - to get this going.