I followed in my dad’s footsteps and went through the apprenticeship program at the shipyard. I worked there for 13 years. I came home one day and told my wife, “I don’t want to do this anymore. I want to teach.” So I had three part-time jobs, and was going to college. One of my daughters was attending ODU, the other was going to Texas A&M, and I went to Norfolk State all at the same time. My son was still in high school.
I graduated and started teaching at Thoroughgood Elementary and taught the same grade in the same classroom for 21 years.
After experiencing the impact of transformational learning, I started to realize maybe my next step is to teach teachers.
What do you do outside of work?
My son and I do blacksmithing. We just took 23 of the Instructional Leadership Team to my farm in and had them blacksmith. They made dinner bells.
Twisting metal, banging metal, it is a bonding experience.
We took a class in the 757 Makerspace and we forged a clever. After that, we got the bug. We bought one anvil, then two anvils, then three anvils. Once we get into something, we really get into it.
We live on a farm so we have always been craftsman and work with our hands.