Advanced ELA8 GPMS Yearbook Supervisor - Campus Website Representative

• Advanced ELA8
    • GPMS Yearbook Supervisor
  • Campus Website Representative
      • GPMS Gazette Publisher
• Box Tops for Education Coordinator

Education/Experience
2020-2021 will be my 16th year with GP.
Prior to becoming a teacher, I was a:
- Volunteer Coordinator at Driscoll Children’s Hospital
- Counselor for Job Corps (see https://www.jobcorps.gov/ to learn more)
- Televised Promotions Producer at KRIS Communications
- Director for KEDT-TV, Public Television
I graduated from the University of North Texas with a B.A. in
Communication and an English minor.

Family of Teachers
I am the youngest of two
boys (our poor mom!).
Our parents were both
teachers; in fact, they
met and started dating
when they were teaching
different subjects at the
same high school! My
older brother, Larry, was
a flight instructor!

Family of Teachers (continued)
I have had the honor of
living with three strong,
caring, creative,
intelligent, beautiful
women: my wonderful
wife Mariah (a professor
at TX A&M Kingsville)
and two dazzling
daughters – Mimosa &
Marigold!

Family of Teachers (continued)
Mimosa, my oldest daughter, was a
teaching assistant at UTRGV (University
of Texas, Rio Grand Valley). She was also
a community organizer. Unfortunately,
she passed away after a long battle with
Relapsing Polychondritis (you can learn
more about this rare autoimmune disease
at https://polychondritis.org/) on April 26, 2020.
She was only 25 years old, but she led a
full life, making an impact on the lives of
all who knew her.

Hobbies/Interests - Things I Enjoy:
 The thing I enjoy most in the
 world is: spending time with
 Marigold, my youngest
 daughter (a terrific teenager),
 sharing laughs, bicycling,
 playing games, creating
 artwork, and anything else she
 wants to do!

Hobbies/Interests - Things I Enjoy (continued):

The original series from the 1960’s is my favorite, but I will admit: Patrick
Stewart is a better actor than William Shatner, Deep Space Nine was the best-
written, I think Voyager was the most fun, and all of the other spin-offs offer
new, unique and dynamic perspectives of the vision created by the Texan (born
in El Paso!) writer (and Great Bird of the Galaxy) Gene Roddenberry.

What I Like to Read

I like obscure, quirky informational texts about history and/or
science (stuff that compels me to exclaim, “I did not know that!”)
because I love learning new things.
I grew up reading comic books; I was the only kid in my 1st-grade
class who could spell words like “amazing”, “fantastic” and
“incredible”. Thank you, Stan Lee!
I prefer short stories to novels (more adventures/less time), but there
are a couple of novels I would highly recommend on the next
page…

Novels I’d Recommend
- Star Trek: The Sundered by
  Michael A. Martin & Andy
  Mangels (something for everyone
  in this Captain Sulu adventure
  from the “Lost Era” – between the
  original series and Next
  Generation)
- The Hunger Games: Catching
  Fire by Suzanne Collins (see why
  the books are better than the
  movies!)

Philosophy of Education
A college professor once bragged that half of his students failed
his class the first time they took it. My father told the professor
that he shouldn’t brag about that; Dad said, “If half of your
students are failing, you must be a lousy teacher!”

I truly believe that all good teachers want their students to
succeed. Good teachers challenge us to learn from our mistakes,
do more than we thought we could, and become more than we
thought we were, but success (not failure) is the ultimate goal.

Philosophy of Education (continued)
“Education without service helps no one, and service without
education is ineffective.” – Mimosa Thomas

"Education is our freedom, and freedom should be everybody’s
business." - Dr. Hector P. Garcia

"Establishing lasting peace is the work of education; all politics
can do is keep us out of war.” - Maria Montessori

"Only the educated are free." - Epictetus

Now it’s your turn!
How has your family influenced you?
What activities do you enjoy?
What do you like to read?
What reading materials would you recommend to others?
What are some of your favorite quotes?
Please be prepared to share your answers to these questions and the
follow-up question “why” with me and the rest of the class, as we get
to know each other better. More details will be announced later.

Let’s make this a great year,
         Wildcats!