I am a passionate teacher with over 14 years of experience teaching English, history, anthropology, as well as many other subjects, to students of all ranges and ability levels. I have extensive experience teaching English literature, composition, critical analysis, and other related courses. I hold two masters degrees, an advanced TESOL certification, and a teacher's license.
I’m addition, I’m a devoted father of four wonderful children. We like to hike, watch movies, go to plays and museums, read together, play soccer (I coach their teams when I can), and travel and explore.
I'm also an award-winning writer with dozens of travel articles and a few books in the works, and an anthropologist who uses data-driven analysis to differentiate and expand possibilities for students through data-driven education.
I have a plethora of international experience, having volunteered with Sikhs in London, the elderly in Kyoto, monks in Tibet, an archeological excavation in Crete, as well as having lived in 10 countries and traveled through fifty or so as a writer, anthropologist, and teacher. I once went on an expedition to the Peruvian Amazon to document the last speakers of an endangered language, and many more adventures. I have a broad knowledge of world civilizations, history, literature, and cultures, as well as a passion for creating positive learning environments in which students can achieve mastery of skills and a comprehensive knowledge of a range of topics through personalized learning, motivation-enhancing rapport, challenge, differentiation, and attention.
Recent Fellowships I've been awarded have included the Rural Teacher Leader Network Fellowship, The RootEd Fellowship, an NCCAT Holocaust Education Fellowship, and an Education Policy Fellowship Program fellowship. Additionally, I've been lucky to receive grant funding for an outdoor club from NC Outdoors, funding for the local history podcast project through the Southern Poverty Law Center, and funding for other school-based initiatives through the nonprofit GearUp. I was named the Madison County Innovator of the Year for 2023-2024, and went on to be selected as the inaugural GearUp Innovator of the Year for North Carolina, 2023-2024.