At which school in the district do you teach?

Stroudsburg High School – Stroudsburg Area School District.

What subject(s) do you teach?

AP Biology, Introduction to Forensic Science.

What grade (s) do you teach? 

11th & 12th.

How long have you been teaching at SASD? 

20 years.

What is your favorite part about teaching?

Well, there is not a one favorite part  – there are favorite parts!

Favorite parts #1: Getting to know genuinely good people. I spend a lot of time with students, I do my best to build relationships where they feel comfortable enough to be themselves, have conversations and just generally hang out.  

Favorite parts #2:  It is very humbling to stand in front of really intelligent and genuine people that I know will go on to do great things. I love the idea that some of my students will be awesome at whatever they chose to do — chefs, engineers, future parents, leaders, teachers, doctors, whatever….

Favorite parts #3: Every day is different and every class is different — the class dynamics are always changing and can be a lot of fun.  

Favorite parts #4: Sharing the videos I create.

If you could teach another subject, what would it be and why? 

I would invent AP cooking – cooking is fun.

What is one piece of advice you would share with your students?

There is more than one path, there are hundreds upon hundreds of different life paths out there. The one that’s right for you may not be the one that your teachers and parents encouraged you to follow, but it’s up to you to make that decision for yourself.

What is your favorite quote and what does it mean to you?

“Never had a bad day”  – not necessarily a famous quote but it is mine.  When people ask, “How I am doing”, I reply with that.  The meaning it has, is a reminder that there are rough, possibly even bad moments in a day but at the end of the day  — in a moment of reflection — I’m alive, still doing oxidative phosphorylation and my phosphorylation cascade is cascading. I have great family and friends — I hang out with cool people all day. Never had a bad day.

How and when did you know that teaching was what you wanted to do?

I had never planned or wanted to be a teacher. In fact, a lot of my friends were surprised I got into teaching.  I am the quiet dude in my circle of friends, usually keep to myself and just chill and hang back.  Teaching gives me an outlet of sorts to be sometimes obnoxious and have fun.  Oh but to answer the question: after I graduated college, I had environmental science and biology degrees. I worked in a lab for a time doing water quality assays — all day. It wasn’t awesome.  I had friends that were teachers and I was going to go back to grad school anyway. I made the decision to get a Masters’s degree in education and the universe has placed me perfectly.