My philosophy of education Education at the high school level involves the teaching and learning of specific content and skills. However, the most effective educators strive to instill in students their own love of the subject matter. Such educators teach students first and their discipline second. I believe human beings learn best when they know their mentor and instructor has a genuine respect and regard for them.
My background I have been in education for over twenty year in the St. Johns County public school system. A native Floridian, I earned my Bachelor of Arts degree from Jacksonville University and graduated magna cum laude. In 1990, I received my Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership from the University of North Florida. I served as Dean of Students at St. Augustine High School in the late 1980s and early 1990s, taught at Switzerland Point Middle School for six
years, and taught at Bartram Trail High until I became an assistant principal for curriculum there in 2003. I was very fortunate to be able to transfer to Menendez High School in the summer of 2007.
I have always had a passion for learning, especially history. I love teaching world history because it gives the student a sense of where we, as Americans, come from, and just how unique we are. We are products of a distinctive revolution that resulted in a concept of individual freedom instead of tyranny. As time has passed, our vision has evolved and we have extended that concept of freedom to all who live within our realm.
My love of history is coupled with my love of historical literature. Books I have recently read include:
· The Kite Runner by Khalid Hussein
· A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khalid Hussein
· Copper Sun by Sharon Draper
· Falling Leaves: The Memoir of an Unwanted Chinese Daughter by Adeline Yen Mah
· The Coffee Trader by David Liss
· A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking (Not literature, but a discussion of Einstein’s Theory of Relativity by one of our time’s most important physicists. No, I didn’t understand all of it)
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