I was born August 11 (FYI: I like movies and chocolate but I DON'T drink coffee, and birthday presents don't guarantee a 4. Sorry :) in Selma, Alabama, and am the oldest son of three to retired Air Force parents. I have lived all over the country (some states twice), and ended up with a B.S. in Secondary Education (majoring in Language Arts) from West Virginia University after graduating high school in Virginia. I received my M.S. in Special Education from UNC in Greeley in 1999. I have been teaching since 1991 in various positions (high school Language Arts, elementary Special Education, private school principal, middle school Special Education and Computers/Technology). I have been teaching at Mountain Ridge since 2002, and this year is my thirty-third year in education.
I have a wonderful wife (who teaches French and Spanish here at MRMS and also doesn't drink coffee :), a son, and a gaggle of daughters. I love teaching, movies, photography, music (I started playing the drums when I was in 5th grade), and travel.
My passion for movies began when I was in middle school (where I also learned how to type on MANUAL typewriters from the school's principal who taught the class) when I would film (yes, actual film) movies on our Super8mm home movie camera with my brothers and friends after school and during the summers (we also had to edit by literally cutting and taping film :). I have been very proud of my students who have, over the years, developed great senses of creativity, produced full length movies in class, and those who have also gone on to various film schools and now work in the movie industry. In the last couple of years I have started a production company and have co-written and produced an independent short film that had some success on the short film festival circuit (2020-21) and spent this summer producing my second short film. I only tell you this so you know that I also "practice what I teach." :).
Even though my personal passion is movies, more students have come back to MRMS just to tell me how much learning how to type saved them in high school and college, and NOW in their careers. This is one large reason why we brought Computer Essentials back to MRMS this year.