About Me |
![]() I went on to graduate from Eastern Connecticut State College (in Willimantic) receiving a degree in Biology, then received my Masters Degree in Education from Central Connecticut State College (in New Britain, home of Stanley Tools). There was a serious teacher shortage at the time, and districts were taking "warm bodies" to fill classrooms. Accordingly, I was hired to teach Science by the Wallingford School District on a "Temporary Emergency Permit." (Student teaching was waived after three years of successful teaching.) I originally entered teaching because Uncle Sam was breathing down my back. I intended to stay no longer than a couple of years. Actually, I cringed at the thought that I would be facing a room full of nasty little critters who were probably going to behave just as badly as I did when I was in school...shudder, shudder! But after getting a taste of teaching kids, I was hooked. I took the "Vow of Poverty" and have been in education ever since. After six years in Wallingford, I heard about teaching overseas, so I applied to the Department of Defense Overseas School System, and was fortunate enough to be accepted. So, in 1973, I packed up the whole family and moved to West Germany to teach on a U.S. Army base in a little town called Hanau (home of the Grimm Brothers), just outside of Frankfurt. My son started Kindergarten over there, while my daughter went to Pre-School (where my wife, Sherry, was one of the teachers).
Life overseas was great, but the military was a little too "transient" for us. Our kids' friends were changing all too frequently, and Sherry and I decided that they needed a little more stability. So, After four years in Germany, it was time to return home. One thing led to another, and in 1977, I ended up here in Western New York State teaching in the Greece School District (it's a suburb of Rochester, and the seventh largest district in New York State). It's hard to believe that I taught there for more than thirty years! For a couple of years, I taught "Junior High" (now they're all "middle schools") science, then moved to the high school where I taught biology. It was around that time that I began to get very interested in computers. I taught myself how to use one of the first Apple // computers and asked if I could teach one of my school's "Computer Math" courses. I was told, "Our Math Department does that." So, I went back to school, got a degree in Math, and finally got to teach some computer courses (with a few math classes thrown in for good measure). After that, I moved through several different schools in Greece, teaching a combination of Math, Science, and Computer courses. For five years, I was Arcadia Middle School's Educational Technology Coordinator. Starting in 1996, I was released from my teaching duties to serve as a "Technology Integration Teacher" for the Greece School District. I worked with teachers in grades K-12 in several Greece schools showing them how to integrate different types of educational technology into their curriculum. In my position, I got to work on lots of neat projects which involved the use of technology. Computers were more than just a job for me... more than just a hobby, too. They had become a real passion to me! I admit it... I got hooked!
My daughter, Meghan, graduated from Cottey College in Nevada, Missouri and from Sarah Lawrence College just north of New York City. She's currently living and working in New York City. Meghan is also the lead singer in a popular New York City-based band called "Gift Shop.".
My wife, Sherry, received her degree in English and is certified to teach grades K-12. She had been doing substitute teaching for many years (including lots of long-term assignments), and especially loved working with those adorable little Kindergarten kiddies in the Hilton School District, where we live. However, she put that career on hold after Ethan was born in 2000 to become his full-time baby-sitter. Early every morning, for the first five years of Ethan's life, she drove over to his house and spent the whole day with him. He's such a lucky kid to have had his own grandmother, who is also a teacher, care for him all day. Together, they went to museums, parks, plays, swimming lessons, Gymboree, gymnastics, etc. Now that he's in school, and I'm retired, we still drive over to Ethan's house early every morning to have breakfast with him, and to put him on the school bus. He is such a cool kid!
(When my son, Brendan, graduated from high school, we gave HIM sky-diving lessons, too. We jumped together.)
Well, if you've bothered to read this far, you've been more than patient. I hope this has given you some idea as to what I'm all about. See you online!
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