About the teacher

I have been teaching Diesel Mechanics at Herndon Career Center for 15 years. Before I started teaching I worked mostly on heavy construction and mining equipment. I started at the age of 14 working in a local automotive machine shop basically just cleaning and taking out the trash. After a short period of time I started to do more of the machining on cylinder heads, blocks, crankshafts, and building customer engines. At the age of 16 I thought diesel mechanics would be an interesting career choice so I enrolled in Herndon Career Centers Diesel Mechanics program. I continued to work at the machine shop and also attended Herndon. When I graduated high school I went searching for a job in the diesel mechanics field. It took me a bout a year to find a nice fit. So at the age of 19 I quit working at the machine shop and went to work for a small rock quarry in North Missouri. I spent several years maintaining and servicing quarry equipment. After 7 years of working in the quarry I was offered a field mechanics position for a excavation company in the metro area. This would happen to be 1 of my favorite jobs. I loved being outside and working in different locations throughout the area. 6 years ago I started my own small business. I have a service truck and a shop at my home. I repair heavy equipment on-site for several customers. This has been 1 of the more challenging adventures as I am learning a lot about taxes and regulations in small businesses.