Who is Mr. Murdick?

Let’s Meet Him...

He grew up in a small farm town between Bakersfield and Fresno that nobody has ever heard of. In Corcoran, California, he played football, basketball, and baseball throughout his childhood. He had intentions to teach since his sophomore year of high school when he took a class from an elementary school teacher that showed him and other high school students how to teach struggling first grade readers to become grade-level readers. It was a powerful experience for him working one-on-one nearly every day for months with one student. There was something special about seeing frustration and self-doubt turn into celebration and confidence.

The years took him onto Oregon State for undergrad where he studied Psychology and Sociology while playing football for the Beavs. Between studying, going to class, working out, grinding through practice, and studying some more, he spent a good amount of time learning the trails on his mountain bike.

And then it was off to Cincinnati for his first 8 years of teaching. There, his daughter was born and became his new purpose to exist. 6 years afterward, he found more purpose and he married a beautiful lady, raised in Sisters, Oregon. At the beginning of 2019, his family grew to four with the birth of his second daughter. And in March 2022, his third little girl came along to finalize his full house. Now he lives with four lovely, beautiful, and energetic souls.

He loves to hike, mountain bike, and travel. He loves reading fantasy novels in his free time as long as the storyline doesn’t involve the use of fairy folk, dragons, orcs, or elves (aside from Tolkien, of course). And he loves to write fiction, while still dreaming of publishing one day when he decides to finally share his work with others.

Happy Valley Middle has been good to him, and he is blessed with the given opportunities of teaching Language Arts and Science to perfect his craft of teaching and spread the wealth of knowledge.