Teaching Experience
I started teaching in the Spring of 1982 in my old middle school alma mater--Dwyer Middle School in Huntington Beach, CA. I was to replace my old band teacher, David Borkenhagen. He was having hearing issues ( I understand that now that I'm in my 50's) I did my student teaching at Orangeview Jr HS (Anaheim) and Los Alamitos HS in the morning and then taught a 7/8 grade band and 6th grade band in the afternoon at Dwyer. My next year, I got to teach full-time. But I taught Language Arts, Reading, Social Studies, 6th Grade Science, PE, and Band.... What a year!!! The next year I taught my strong subjects of math and band. From there I followed my wife to Milwaukee, WI (medical school). I taught at Juneau HS. I was hired to teach math but then the music teacher got a job in Las Vegas, so they gave me the band and the choir. There was about 8 in what was left of a band. After two years of Medical School, we had our first child, Elizabeth (she just got a job teaching in Tampa, FL). And so we moved back to California so our parents could help babysit. I got a long-term sub job at Marina HS in Huntington Beach teaching Pre-Algebra and Algebra. That lasted for half a year and then I started working for a software developer company who designed software for engineers and architects called CAD software (Computer-Aided Design/Drafting). At VersaCAD Corp. I did tech support and training.
We moved to the Inland Empire of California for my wife's medical residency. This was a three year program during which time I was teaching Computer Literacy at Bloomington Jr. HS in Bloomington, CA. I also continued to work for VersaCAD during the summer. Rebecca and Jessica were born during this time. To start my wife's practice, we decided to move to a small town in the Pacific Northwest called to Chewelah, WA. So, a week after Jessica was born we moved. I was hoping to find a job in Chewelah, but no luck. I subbed for about a month and a half in various schools in various communities. (That's great way to get to know the area.) Then, a one-third FTE position opened up for Valley School for Band. I got that position and continued to sub on off days.Then while working in Colville one day, the Band director there had a program with hundreds of kids and needed help teaching those kids and they offered me a two-thirds position working with the Colville Bands with director Dave Quistad. That was a fun year. Unfortunately, the Colville position was for only one year, so I decided to look for a different position. I got a job teaching band and math at Greenacres Jr HS. That was another great year. We took first place in Combos in Lionel Hampton and 2nd place at the Jr. Lilac Parade and then Superior Rating for site-reading at festival. The commute though was difficult, so I moved on trying to get a job closer. I got a job at Deer Park HS teaching Band, Choir, Jazz Band, and Pre-Algebra. This was a good place but not for me, so I transferred the next year to Arcadia Elementary in Deer Park teaching 5th and 6th Grade Band and elementary music to 3rd through 6th grade. I never knew elementary music was so fun. I had a great three years there but still wanted to be closer to home. I finally got the job in Chewelah in 1997. The high school hired me to teach math part-time. Occassionally, they threw in a Microcomputer course. I did this for three years. Then, the Jenkins HS Band Director, Jim Meredith, and I decided to split his job. I taught the high school band, choir, jazz band, and math and he taught all jr hs music classes. We did this for four years. Those were good years. We went to San Francisco, the boys basketball went to state all four years, we took runner-up all four years at Lionel Hampton Jazz, we continued to grow especially in choir (60 students) and we had various musicians going to Solo/ensemble festival. Then I moved on the the middle school. I taught math and computers there for the first few years. Then we hired Joe Trudeau to teach band after Mr. Meredith left. The year after he got here, he was deployed to Iraq and I taught the band and choir program HS/JMS that year. When he came back, I went back to teaching math and microcomputers. Then, the following year, we split Mr. Trudeau's position and I taught Math 7 and the bands and choir at the middle school. I really liked these years. I especially enjoy teaching the beginners. I did this for a couple of years and then Mr. Kostecka (math) moved to Spokane, so I moved back to full time Math at the middle school--now the jr HS school. Life is full of changes--isn't it?
I started teaching in the Spring of 1982 in my old middle school alma mater--Dwyer Middle School in Huntington Beach, CA. I was to replace my old band teacher, David Borkenhagen. He was having hearing issues ( I understand that now that I'm in my 50's) I did my student teaching at Orangeview Jr HS (Anaheim) and Los Alamitos HS in the morning and then taught a 7/8 grade band and 6th grade band in the afternoon at Dwyer. My next year, I got to teach full-time. But I taught Language Arts, Reading, Social Studies, 6th Grade Science, PE, and Band.... What a year!!! The next year I taught my strong subjects of math and band. From there I followed my wife to Milwaukee, WI (medical school). I taught at Juneau HS. I was hired to teach math but then the music teacher got a job in Las Vegas, so they gave me the band and the choir. There was about 8 in what was left of a band. After two years of Medical School, we had our first child, Elizabeth (she just got a job teaching in Tampa, FL). And so we moved back to California so our parents could help babysit. I got a long-term sub job at Marina HS in Huntington Beach teaching Pre-Algebra and Algebra. That lasted for half a year and then I started working for a software developer company who designed software for engineers and architects called CAD software (Computer-Aided Design/Drafting). At VersaCAD Corp. I did tech support and training.
We moved to the Inland Empire of California for my wife's medical residency. This was a three year program during which time I was teaching Computer Literacy at Bloomington Jr. HS in Bloomington, CA. I also continued to work for VersaCAD during the summer. Rebecca and Jessica were born during this time. To start my wife's practice, we decided to move to a small town in the Pacific Northwest called to Chewelah, WA. So, a week after Jessica was born we moved. I was hoping to find a job in Chewelah, but no luck. I subbed for about a month and a half in various schools in various communities. (That's great way to get to know the area.) Then, a one-third FTE position opened up for Valley School for Band. I got that position and continued to sub on off days.Then while working in Colville one day, the Band director there had a program with hundreds of kids and needed help teaching those kids and they offered me a two-thirds position working with the Colville Bands with director Dave Quistad. That was a fun year. Unfortunately, the Colville position was for only one year, so I decided to look for a different position. I got a job teaching band and math at Greenacres Jr HS. That was another great year. We took first place in Combos in Lionel Hampton and 2nd place at the Jr. Lilac Parade and then Superior Rating for site-reading at festival. The commute though was difficult, so I moved on trying to get a job closer. I got a job at Deer Park HS teaching Band, Choir, Jazz Band, and Pre-Algebra. This was a good place but not for me, so I transferred the next year to Arcadia Elementary in Deer Park teaching 5th and 6th Grade Band and elementary music to 3rd through 6th grade. I never knew elementary music was so fun. I had a great three years there but still wanted to be closer to home. I finally got the job in Chewelah in 1997. The high school hired me to teach math part-time. Occassionally, they threw in a Microcomputer course. I did this for three years. Then, the Jenkins HS Band Director, Jim Meredith, and I decided to split his job. I taught the high school band, choir, jazz band, and math and he taught all jr hs music classes. We did this for four years. Those were good years. We went to San Francisco, the boys basketball went to state all four years, we took runner-up all four years at Lionel Hampton Jazz, we continued to grow especially in choir (60 students) and we had various musicians going to Solo/ensemble festival. Then I moved on the the middle school. I taught math and computers there for the first few years. Then we hired Joe Trudeau to teach band after Mr. Meredith left. The year after he got here, he was deployed to Iraq and I taught the band and choir program HS/JMS that year. When he came back, I went back to teaching math and microcomputers. Then, the following year, we split Mr. Trudeau's position and I taught Math 7 and the bands and choir at the middle school. I really liked these years. I especially enjoy teaching the beginners. I did this for a couple of years and then Mr. Kostecka (math) moved to Spokane, so I moved back to full time Math at the middle school--now the jr HS school. Life is full of changes--isn't it?