Candidate for
Board Member; Southwest Local School District

Education is very important to my family. I've been an educator for 10 years at the secondary level; after teaching Latin for four years at St. Ursula Academy in Cincinnati, I moved out to the Southwest Local District in 2003 to begin teaching at Harrison High School, and this next year will be my first at Fairfield High School in the Fairfield City School District. My wife Jill is also an educator at the elementary level, teaching in the West Clermont School District before moving with me to Harrison; she is now in her fifth year as a 3rd grade teacher at Elda Elementary in Ross Local. And as we are expecting our first child, Cole, this November, education is even more important as we look forward to his school years.

I was born in Cincinnati and raised in West Chester, where I went to St. Susanna's elementary before going on to Archbishop Moeller High School. I then went to Miami University, and I knew from the start that I wanted to be a teacher. I majored in Latin Education, and I graduated from Miami in 1999 with a B.S. in Education.

In 2003, following my first teaching assignment, I came to Harrison High School and took over the Latin program. The following year, my wife and I moved here after getting married, and we have lived in downtown Harrison for the last six years. During my tenure at Harrison, I grew the Latin program and made it successful on the local, state, and national level through the Junior Classical League. I also encouraged students to get out into the community to promote Latin; the students and I went out to the elementary schools and introduced the Latin program as part of a first-year project, and our Latin Club has done park clean-ups, presentations at the Harrison Library, and fund raisers at the Minges Pumpkin Festival.

Along with working with the students of Southwest, I've also done a lot alongside the teachers. I served as a building representative for the high school in the Southwest Local Classroom Teachers Association (SLCTA) for two years. During that time, I worked to organize teachers at the high school as we tried to come up with ideas to help ease our current budget crisis and prevent cuts to job positions. I also served on the research team on the last contract negotiation, working to gather information on the concerns of teachers about classroom setting and working conditions.

Although I no longer work for Southwest Local, I care very much for its students and the staff that serves them. I want the best for them, at all levels of education, and that means using our resources in the most responsible way possible. We have great students, great teachers, and great support personnel, but most importantly, we have a great community. I am happy to be a part of it, and I hope to serve you as part of your school board.