A Bit About Me
I have been teaching for twenty-eight years, all of them with the Bluewater Board of Education. I started my career at West Hill Secondary School in Owen Sound, and have been teaching at Grey Highlands for the past eighteen years. I am a graduate of Wilfrid Laurier (Honours Bachelor of Arts), Brock (Bachelor of Education), and have taken additional qualification courses at Western and the University of Toronto. I have always taken education very seriously, and it is this passion for life-long learning that I try to instill in my students. School does not have to be boring, nor does it have to be a chore. I work with my students to make our classroom a safe environment that allows everyone to explore their own thoughts and abilities in an academic and professional manner. Humour is a daily part of that process.
At GHSS, I serve as the PAR for the Arts Department, Specialist High Skills Major: Arts teacher, librarian, Sound & Light liaison, Yearbook advisor, and sit on several Board and Provincial committees focused on technology as well as overall student success. I have been fortunate enough to write curriculum for the Province of Ontario, as well as the local boards of education, and while I teach several different courses, my heart will always be in the study and teaching of history. It was a wonderfully inspiring Grade Twelve history teacher that started me down my career path, and it is with the same enthusiasm and dedication that he showed that I hope to meet the needs and challenges of my students.
I am married and live in Chatsworth, Ontario with my wife Dawn. My oldest daughter is currently studying Aerospace Engineering at Carleton University, and is a proud graduate of GHSS. My youngest daughter, also a graduate of Grey Highlands, is studying Molecular Biology/DNA at the University of Waterloo. I graduated from John Diefenbaker Secondary School in Hanover (Go Trojans!), and despite being an only child, I have a very large network of cousins, aunts and uncles in the area. I spent many of my childhood summers "out west", and am proud of my family's heritage, which includes several uncles and cousins who have fought for Canada in most of her international conflicts.
My interests (I really don't have much time for "hobbies"), include photography, electric cars, non-fiction (esp. World War II), tactical warfare game simulations, snorkeling and football. I am also a proud product of the mid-1980s, and consider myself an expert on the decade (especially when playing Trivial Pursuit, or any 80s music trivia game). Sadly, I have come to realize how "old" I have become now that the students no longer understand my references to Ewoks, Jedi Knights, Ghostbusters, the Goonies, or Corey Hart. Sigh.
At GHSS, I serve as the PAR for the Arts Department, Specialist High Skills Major: Arts teacher, librarian, Sound & Light liaison, Yearbook advisor, and sit on several Board and Provincial committees focused on technology as well as overall student success. I have been fortunate enough to write curriculum for the Province of Ontario, as well as the local boards of education, and while I teach several different courses, my heart will always be in the study and teaching of history. It was a wonderfully inspiring Grade Twelve history teacher that started me down my career path, and it is with the same enthusiasm and dedication that he showed that I hope to meet the needs and challenges of my students.
I am married and live in Chatsworth, Ontario with my wife Dawn. My oldest daughter is currently studying Aerospace Engineering at Carleton University, and is a proud graduate of GHSS. My youngest daughter, also a graduate of Grey Highlands, is studying Molecular Biology/DNA at the University of Waterloo. I graduated from John Diefenbaker Secondary School in Hanover (Go Trojans!), and despite being an only child, I have a very large network of cousins, aunts and uncles in the area. I spent many of my childhood summers "out west", and am proud of my family's heritage, which includes several uncles and cousins who have fought for Canada in most of her international conflicts.
My interests (I really don't have much time for "hobbies"), include photography, electric cars, non-fiction (esp. World War II), tactical warfare game simulations, snorkeling and football. I am also a proud product of the mid-1980s, and consider myself an expert on the decade (especially when playing Trivial Pursuit, or any 80s music trivia game). Sadly, I have come to realize how "old" I have become now that the students no longer understand my references to Ewoks, Jedi Knights, Ghostbusters, the Goonies, or Corey Hart. Sigh.