Welcome! This is the start of my 26th year of teaching in Clovis, and 14th year at Alta Sierra. The other 12 years I taught 6th Grade at Dry Creek.
My life began at the Clark AFB Hospital at noon, in the month of February, in the Philippines. I share my birthday with Bob Griese, Fran Tarkenton, & Fred Lynn. When I was 3, my father retired from the U.S. Air Force and we moved to our permanent home in Merced, Ca. I attended McSwain Elementary, K-8, then graduated from Atwater High. Proceeded onto college where I received my BA in Liberal Studies at California State University, Fresno. While working on my teaching credential, I began substitute teaching at various local school districts. I became a "walk on" coach at Valley Oak, in CUSD, in 1994 coaching Boys basketball. Over the next three years I coached football, basketball, and baseball at Valley Oak.
In 1997, I took a position with a Produce company for the next 3 years. Over this time I met my wife, Catherine, who was a teacher at Storey Elementary in Fresno Unified. Volunteering time in her class made me realize that I still loved working with kids and I ended up leaving my job in produce to get back into teaching. My wife, Catherine, is the principal at Bullard Talent in Fresno Unified.
My wife and I have a 24 year old son, Luke, who lives in Austin, Texas. Luke is working at Lamberts Austin Downtown Barbeque. Our 21 year old daughter, Rachel, is starting her senior year of college attending Occidental College in Los Angeles where she is a member of the Occidental Women's Golf Team.
We have a 15 year old Jack Russell Terrier named Shipley, who is named after Jordan Shipley a former University of Texas football player.
My younger brother, Taft, is a retired Brigadier General in the California Air National Guard. He was the Wing Commander of the Search & Rescue Wing @ Moffett AB. He was a Combat-Search & Rescue pilot for the USAF and has done multiple tours in Iraq, Kuwait, Afghanistan, & Turkey. He and his wife Trudy live in Atwater, California. My nephew Murphy is a member of the Marine Corp & my niece, Max is a freshman @ Merced College.