I was born and raised in Decatur, IL and headed off to the University of Evansville in 1997. I had a wonderful opportunity to earn a degree in Secondary Social Studies Education over four years and ended up with my first teaching job at Benjamin Bosse High School in southern Indiana. In 2003 I received the Eugene V. Debs Fellowship at Indiana State University and studied social movements in American history. In the fall of 2005 I started my career in BVSD as a teacher at Centaurus High and have never left. My wife, Nicole, is also a teacher in the district and we are the proud parents of three children. All five of us enjoy the Colorado mountains in every season and spend our free time skiing, snowboarding, camping, fishing, mountain biking, disc golfing and, sometimes, just wandering around. I'm a rock n' roll geek, love live music, and my students will be exposed to a variety of sounds in my classroom.
I love reading, teaching, and talking about history. Understanding the past helps one understand the present. Where we come from, why we have cultural, gender, and age expectations, all of this comes from personal, political, and social actions made before right now. History is not concrete; it is fluid. It changes with time and depends on who is writing and reading it. Teaching this to young people gives me the confidence that a healthy democracy can move forward in the United States and is possible around the world.