Biography
I graduated from San Diego State University in 1998 with a Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences. After completing my degree I started classes in the Teacher Education Department to earn my Single Subject Teaching Credential. In 1999 I moved to Concord, California and started my first teaching job at Concord High School teaching Integrated Science. After a year in Concord I started to miss the beach and moved back to San Diego and started teaching at La Costa Canyon High School. At La Costa Canyon High School I taught Biology, Chemistry, Earth Science, Physical Science, and Advanced Placement Chemistry. While working at the high school level I was also assisting teaching at San Diego State University in the Teacher Education Department. I worked with Samuel Sandoval and Dr. Cheryl Mason on teaching Science Methods for future science teachers.
While working at La Costa Canyon I met my wife Dawn. She was working as the Dean of Students at La Costa Canyon High School. We were married in February 2004. We wanted to start a family soon and after a couple of months my wife was pregnant and expecting our first child. We were concerend living in such a large city with little family for support and we made the decision to move to Illinois to be closer to my wife's family. We packed up our stuff and I drove cross country to our new home in Pekin, Illinois. I taught Earth Science and Coordinated Science at the only high school in the town called Pekin Community High School. I spent my time learning how to live in a small town (aka. nothing to do) and preparing for the birth of our daughter. The day came and Tabitha was born on November 20, 2004. After living in Pekin for only a few months we decided that the small town life was not for us and we moved back to the San Diego Area. So I packed up a truck again and drove cross country to Vista, California.
I started back in the same school district but at Canyon Crest Academy a new school opened in 2004. At Canyon Crest Academy I taught Chemistry and Advanced Placement Chemistry. With the opening of this new school I spent a good majority of the time ordering supplies and integrating new technology into the classroom. We were the first school in the district to have computers in the science classroom to collect real time data using Vernier Probeware. This allowed for students to use science tools they will be using in their college classes. After working to help set-up the Chemistry program at Canyon Crest Academy I was getting tired of communiting to work and missing valuable time with my daughter. I ended up back at La Costa Canyon High School to be closer to home and spend those precious moments with my family.