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    Hi! Welcome to my "teacher bio" page! I will not be using this website during the school year; instead, I'll use Canvas for updating students/parents and HAC for grading, but there are usually lots of hits on this page in August when, presumably, students/parents are trying to get the scoop on their new teachers, so here goes...

     
    I've been teaching 9th grade science, chemistry, and physics at Neshaminy High School since the 2008/09 school year.
     
    Since I've been at the high school, I've taught Integrated Science, Foundations of Chemistry, "College Prep" Chemistry, Honors Chemistry, "College Prep" Physics, and Honors Physics.
     
    I like to think of myself as an understanding and reasonable guy, but I hope to expect a lot from my students (I aim for the tough, but fair kind of teacher).
     
    If you see my name on your schedule for Honors Chem I, I'm excited to be back after a three-year hiatus. Count on a decent amount of math (way more than Bio but way less than you'll see in physics next year). In chem, we'll explore things even smaller than you learned about in Bio. Speaking of bio, if you didn't like it, you're not alone! Chem will be different and lots of people who don't love bio find that they love chem!
     
    If you see me for Physics I, welcome! In Physics I, you should expect a fairly math-heavy introduction to physics. We'll cover all the topics you'd see in a college-level physics I class and about half of the topics you'll see in physics II. It'll be a bunch of algebra, some fun labs, and a lot of numbers. I'll be the after-school physics helper in the library from 2:30 - 4:00 on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so help will be available.
     
    Aside from teaching, my wife, Rachael, and I have three pretty small boys. As I type this, our oldest, Sam is 7, our middleman, Rhett, is 6, and our youngest, Ben, is 5. This school year, they'll be in 2nd grade, 1st grade, and kindergarten. Last Christmas, we adopted a puppy named Dodger. He'll turn 1 this September. Aside from family time, I enjoy traveling, reading (currently finishing up Tomorrow, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow as I eagerly wait for my copy of Shogun, Part II to become available from the library), watching movies/TV, listening to music (think 88.5 WXPN kinda stuff), and hanging with friends/family. If you ask Rach, I'm way too invested in sports (Dodgers, Packers, Celtics, and Flyers). I graduated from Neshaminy a looooong while back, I'm a Penn State (undergrad) and Temple (grad) alum. Also, my brother is a Guidance Counselor here! He's great!

     

    This past summer has been pretty low-key for us; I've spent most of my time just hanging with the family, we took a couple of pretty modest trips:  Knoebel's and a week in Ocean City with my parents and my 3 silblings' families (10 kids total and my 7 year old is the oldest - it was hectic but great). I also tutored SAT Math at Y2 Academy right by the H-Mart in Levittown. Come to think of it, I've been tutoring SAT math for something like 20 years, so I know more about it than I probably should and I'd be happy to chat about it anytime.