When did you start teaching?

I started teaching in 1991 in the school district of Lancaster, which is back east. I taught 7th-grade math at the junior high level and also taught in the International Baccalaureate program with 10th-grade students at the intermediate high school. As far as total years of experience, I have 28 years.

What roles in education have you held?

Early in my career, I did a lot of curriculum writing with mastery criteria, which were before standards. I served on finance committees at the building level and took leadership opportunities to help me get a better understanding of the school system in general. Sometimes you don’t get that view as a teacher because you get so caught up in the day-to-day operations of your classroom that sometimes you don’t recognize everything else that goes into education. It’s a business with a lot of work that I did with budgeting. In addition to that, I coached football, wrestling, and baseball all at different levels. I coached at Lancaster but also at North Hills, where I was previously. I taught alternative education at North Hills for a couple of years. I started doing my principal work back in 2001 and got my masters from Pitt.

What will you miss most about NASH?

The kids. I definitely will miss the kids. It’s one thing I appreciated right away when I came here in 2015. The number of students that just had some really creative ideas, who were very motivated to do things that go beyond the classroom experience is amazing. Project Water and TigerThon, for instance, were neat things we started to expand. These kinds of things don’t happen at other schools, so I will be missing the kids and their innovative ideas and activities connected to the real-world. I’ll definitely miss the kids and their enthusiasm and commitment.

You will soon be the Superintendent of Carlynton School District.  What are you most looking forward to in your new position?

My new position creates a new opportunity for me. My experience in the past has been at the building level, so now I’ll have an opportunity to oversee an entire district from curriculum to human resources to finances and all components of the educational process. I also will pick up the feeder program for the elementary and build a program from pre-K to 12 grade that helps kids be successful. So again, it’s the additional responsibility, the additional work that comes with it, but for me it’s fun and I enjoy what I do. I’m looking forward to working with a new set of teachers and a new set of kids in a really nice community.

What is one thing you wish you could have changed about NASH but didn’t?

One of the things that I wished I would have gotten accomplished was instituting an activity period during the day, and that’s something that we’re starting to work on right now. Anytime we run activities like the mock crash or digital citizenship, they only take 15-20 minutes, but yet we block out a long period of time to get that thing done. What we’re working on is creating an activity period where we can still meet every single class period and we can slide in an activity with smaller periods lengths. 

What is the most impressive student achievement you have ever seen?

We had four Coca-Cola Scholars in one year When you look at the number of Coca-Cola Scholars that are named at the end, there are 150 across the United States — we had four. Each year, we’ve had somebody recognized. The number of students who receive National Merit recognition through the PSAT and also the number of scholars through the AP program is incredible. When you look at the percentages, we’re well above the average. It’s out of this world. It not necessarily an individual student who achieves exceptional things. At North Allegheny, you may not be at the top of the class but you’re still an outstanding scholar. The students are working very hard in one of the top-performing schools in this state. The kids are all outstanding.

What advice would you offer to the next principal of NASH?

Always keep a pulse on the building. My advice would be to continue to have positive relationships with the kids and the teachers and continue to create that environment where parents feel comfortable enough to come in and share their concerns. I’d encourage the principal to always have that open door. Don’t close that door and seclude yourself to just managing a building – anyone can manage a building.  To lead, you must have an door open and be interactive. Always know what’s going on, which requires you to go to functions and events. If you want to make a positive change, then you have to know the issues and collect the information.

You often joke about the fact that you are bald.  Would you ever consider changing your hairstyle?

No. If anything, I’d go shorter. I always tell people I get my hair cut at Dunkin’ Donuts because they cut the center out. 

Favorite way to spend your free time?

I like doing work outside, the kind of work that doesn’t require thinking, like lawn work or anything with landscaping. I like working with cars, changing oil, maintaining vehicles, things where I can work with my hands. I spend a lot of time at a desk, and it helps to do a job by yourself that gives you time to relax and collect your thoughts. 

Dream vacation? Would you go with anyone?

I would definitely take my wife with me. I would like to do maybe a collection of sights across the states. We’ve traveled to vacation spots like the beach, but I think it’d be fun to go to big cities to take a look at some culture and hop around for a week or two. I’ve never been over to Europe, which I think would be fun while looking at ancient history.

Do you have any pets? If not, have you ever had any?

I don’t have any pets. However, growing up I had a gerbil, hamster, guinea pig, rabbit, cats, dog, turtle. Funny story: when I was really little, I took the turtles and I put them on the stove and I turned the stove on. I’m not sure why, but they were saved in time. Turtle soup. We had parakeets. That was all throughout my life growing up. Having a pet teaches a little bit of responsibility. I remember taking care of the rabbit before going to elementary school and feeding it in the insulated box outside. This was all in a small, duplex kind of house with a tiny backyard. But I don’t have any interest in having pets right now. 

Favorite song or genre of music?

I don’t necessarily have a favorite song, but if I listen to music, I usually go back to classic rock, some of the stuff from the 60s or early 70s that I grew up with. The Who, The Doors, Rolling Stones. 

Something that always cheers you up?

Kids, definitely. Whenever you’re having a rough time with things, you get out around the kids and, boom, they bring you right back up.

If you could be any food dish, what would you be?

Lasagna, because there are lots of layers to it and there’s a lot of different things you can put into it and it’ll still be good.

You mentioned that you coached football for a time, so we’re trusting you to predict the outcome of this Sunday’s Super Bowl.

Chiefs, 27-24.