Hey, hey! I am a man of many monikers, but at Out Teach people call me Vice President of Programs. Sometimes a conductor of a symphony playing a sublime piece of music and other times a ringleader, welcoming the next prodigious feats of pedagogy, it’s a lot like my time as a classroom teacher! I have the unique privilege of managing our professional learning, landscape architecture, and evaluation teams to transform hearts and minds and expand what is possible in elementary education. I joined Out Teach in 2008 because I’m passionate about using natural phenomena as a launch pad for discovery and fostering deep connections between students, teachers, and the world we live in. I started my career in education in 2000, as a special education teacher at Westcliff Elementary in Fort Worth, TX, teaching a self-contained classroom of students with severe emotional trauma. Then, I metamorphosed into a 5th grade teacher, specializing in Science and English/Language Arts. I will be forever grateful to my students because they taught me an important life lesson-that there is a spark of genius in each of us, and anyone who helps us find that spark and fan the flames of insight is our teacher!
Reflecting on my career in education, my proudest moments have been with individual students, especially those that others had given up on or put in a box where they didn’t belong. I am proud to have been recognized as a Top 100 reading teacher in Fort Worth ISD and for receiving the Lockheed Martin Chair for Teaching Excellence in Elementary Science.
Some things that inspire me are music and ideas. I thrive around curious and creative people who balance the science of life with the art of life and enjoy creating music and having philosophical conversations. Drums are my first instrument, and I also play guitar, because making music with others is one of the things that makes me feel most like myself.