How long have you been at North Penn?

“It is my 13th year.”

When did you know that you wanted to be a teacher and why?

“I worked for a chemical company for 23 years. As part of my job, I did a lot of training. I trained new sales representatives and I actually gave what we called customer seminars where I presented information about our company and about our products to customers. I was downsized after 23 years, and said ‘okay, what do I want to do?’ And I decided that I could take those skills that I had presenting to adults and use them instead to present to high schoolers.”

What do you like to do when you’re not at school?

“Visit my grandchildren. They are four months, four, and eight: three boys. I am a very outdoors person, I love camping, hiking, and kayaking. I love sports also, the one I still play is golf.”

What is the best part about working at North Penn?

“One of my favorite things is the group of teachers I work with. We support each other, we share our materials with each other, we don’t try to compete with each other. So it is a very interactive and helpful group. Also, I find that with the students, I have been pretty lucky. For the most part, I have had good students who don’t give me trouble. Overall it has been a very good experience.”  

Biggest influence on your life?

“One of them, I think, was my chemistry teacher in high school. He really inspired my interest in chemistry and then I went on to major in chemistry, work in a chemical company, and teach chemistry.”

Do you have any special talents or unique interests?

“I like music a lot, and I do sing and play guitar. We usually get together with friends and sing folk songs and stuff like that, so that’s always a lot of fun.”

What’s a fun fact about you that other people may not know?

“The fact that I sing and play the guitar.”

If you could pass one piece of advice along to your students, what would it be?

“I would say to have a ‘can-do’ attitude, because if you say ‘I can’t,’ you won’t. But if you say ‘I can,’ then you will keep trying.”