Picture of me in DC being congratulated by then Senator Frank Lautenberg, I'm personally glad he's back, after receiving my PAEMST, Presidential Award for Excellence in Math and Science Teaching, just before I spilled a beer on a
carpet older than OUR COUNTRY! It was a gift to Ben Franklin from the King of France, Louis XVI, in 1771. MEGA-OOPS!
Boy, did THAT impress Clinton...
 Daddy |
 Mommy |
Where to begin? Had an uneventful childhood. Grew up in the typical dysfunctional American family. Three brothers. No sisters - girls never would have survived us 4... Dad raised us. Didn't know Mom. She left when I was 3. He was military. I miss him. Raised on a farm till 11 years old. My job was to "thin" the feral cat population... Ask me for the gory details sometime... Fumbled through my informative school years thinking I was cool. Won a smile contest in 6th grade. wow. Was mediocre in sports (Wrestling) in high school - Middletown, PA. (Three Mile Island territory, if you think that's important...) Wasted my informative years listening to my hormones instead of my elders and betters. (Now there's a shocker, huh?) Went to college 'cause that's what was expected - AND it kept me out of Vienam for a while. Took Secondary Education as a major because it didn't require a foreign language and I didn't like little kids. Math major for the 1st 3 1/2 years at college. Fumbled through classes between wrestling practices, pumping gas to pay the massive $700 tuition, and naps. Blew out my knees in '72 - mean ole guy from U of Alabama hurt me... Lifted weights for the year I was off the mats. Gained 100 pounds in one year, figuratively speaking, of course; Better living through Chemistry... Decided to also major in physics during my 4th year (my 1st Senior year) so I had something to do with all that Math I was supposedly learning. Lucky enough to find a great physics Prof in Bob Hartford. Thanks, Dr. Bob. You light the fuse that thousands of high school students since then will hate you for.
Finally graduated after 5 years from lovely Shippensburg State College
in Downtown Pennsylvania after being asked not to return to my original school. They didn't think it was funny that we placed a full-grown live cow on top of the dome on the Field House! (It was not only an amazing Engineering feat to get the dern cow up there in the first place, but they learned a little known fact about cows that only a farmboy from Central PA would know. Cows will NOT walk down hill in the dark. The Dean didn't appreciate that as much as I did... Even the farmer we "borrowed" the cow from thought it was funny!)
1st teaching job was at Francis Scott Key HS, Carroll County, Maryland.
Went there on the recommendation of an old girlfriend (Thanks, Pam! I miss you...) and 'cause Maryland paid a lot
more than Central Pennsylvania. $250 more! WOWZERS. Of all things, I was hired as a biology teacher for a whopping $6910 contract. Had ZERO (0, zilch, nada, empty set, goose egg) bio
credits in college. Didn't seem to matter to them - they needed a wrestling
coach. Superintendent asked me what I knew about Exo-Biology. Said, "Never heard of it!". To which he replied, "But you can coach, right?". Said, "Yes". He said, "Fine. Your teaching bio at FSK." BOOM! Had a job! Coached Wrestling and Tennis. Had NEVER played tennis till 1st practice. Damn, I was a good coach!
Was left to the 'wolves' in the classroom with no leadership to guide me. Made
about 90 basic methodological and/or pedagogical (hate that word...) mistakes a day. Fabulous
Master-Teachers Roger Steele and Guy Paterson helped plant the seeds for good
teaching even though I wasn't doing it then. Thanks, guys. Was recruited to teach at Palmyra High School, New
Jersey (Exit 4, if you're interested.) by a good Principal, Frank Adams. Was hired to teach Algebra, Geometry, and Physics. By now, I
had a basic understanding of how good teaching was to take place, but didn't understand how to actually do
good. Did ok. Coached Wrestling, Track & Field, and Cross-Country. Never
ran a day in my life. Followed the runners in my '71 Jeep with lots of fresh water.
(And a beer for me, of course....) Took a year off in '82 to collect what few thoughts I
still had after divorcing my college sweetheart, Linda. sigh.... I was a
jerk. Sorry, Linda. Travelled around the North American continent and made ends meet by being a weight-lifting instructor at the Center City YMCA in Philly.
Nice refreshing break. Met the greatest folks along the way. Most of the travel, believe it or not, was by bicycle! Yes, I went across the great US of A on a 12 speed twice.
Came back storming! Hired at Delran HS, NJ, as a Math teacher. Was actually
their 2nd choice, but the 1st choice got pregnant. WASN'T ME! HONEST! Thank you! Taught Algebra,
Geometry, Trigonometry, Calculus, and a little course I instituted called Shop Math, a math course for the "shoppers". Had a good time with it. See Fond Memories of an Aging Teacher for a few select stories of my time in education... Joe G, you made the top one of the top ten... When
the fabulous Physics teacher, Angie Ferner, moved up to be Sci Dept Head, I moved across the hall to have
another go at Physics. For some reason, I had the right combination of
Administrators and colleagues who let me flourish and grow. Thanks, Dave, Jim (Miss you, Big Guy),
Angie. Had a great run at Delran. Coached Wrestling & Cross-Country. Advised Class of '88. Advisor to a plethora of Clubs. Did some things in class and for that school that would curl the hair of a parent now-a-days. Left Delran under duress in '90. New Principal had a Napoleon complex and thought I was Josephine. I learned how to burn bridges, and, I must say, I did a great job of it. Was hired by Willingboro HS, NJ, the day I resigned from
Delran. (The Willingboro Principal was married to the Delran Guidance Director
and knew of my dilemma. It's nice to have connections, ain't it?) At Willingboro, I
gave up coaching to concentrate on teaching - a novel idea, don't you think? It
worked. The Administration was great; just sorta let me do my thing and backed
me all the way. Did lots of crazy things that worked. Did lots of crazy things
that didn't. Won the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science Teaching
in 1996. Spent a wonderful week in DC at taxpayer's expense, lots-o-cash, and prizes. Thank you, US Taxpayers! Landed
a 'dream' job at Williamstown High School, NJ, in October '99! Brand new
building, lots of toys, bells, and whistles. Administration actually made
decisions with the kids in mind - another novel approach, don't you think? Steve, Dorothy, Kate, & BigDeal, and the recently retired Roger, do/did an outragiously great job running that place. Most of the current teachers don't appreciate what it's like outside the hallowed walls of WHS, though.
Was accepted as a NASA Astrophysics Educator Ambassador in 2002. Received word that I won the 2003 Classroom Connect's International Internet Educator of the Year Award! COOL BEANS! It carried a $5000.00 cash prize, a 9 day trip to Costa Rica, a 3-day trip to the Big Apple to get the award, a new laptop & iPAQ from Compaq, and lots of hi-tech gadgets that will keep me outta the bars for at least a week! Check it out at IEOTY!
After all that, I decided to take an early retirement in June 2004 and continue somewhere else for my last 10-ish years. Put the word out I was looking. Interviewed in places from California to Northern Yukon to Boston. Decided Connecticut fit my bill the best. So
here I am. Sharing the few things I think I know for 5 or 6 more years till I retire again and move to the Arctic and be eaten by Polar Bears if any are left after all the Gore-Bull Warming hype or by rabid penguins... You can't do it ALL. But, you can die happy trying. Living happily and blissfully ignorantly (is that even a word?) in CT with my lovely bride, Darlene, her Mom, Whatsername, and our two retarded dogs, Boo and Bear, yellow lab and Bernese Mtn Dog respectively.