Mr. J was born and raised in Nevada City, California, attending Gold Run, Deer Creek, Seven Hills, and Nevada Union! He was on the swim and water polo teams at NU, sang in the chamber choir, and spent a lot of time at the river. After recieving a B.A. in Creative Writing from U.C. San Diego, he spent a lot of time leading bike tours in Italy, Croatia, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, and a handful of national parks in the U.S. Finally deciding to settle down, he got his M.A. in Education from UCLA and began his teaching career. After teaching 1st grade, 2nd grade, 4th grade, and 6th grade math and science, he got his math credential and settled down in the place he plans to spend the rest of his career - middle school math! This is his 12th year teaching.