This is my seventeenth year at Helena High School,where I teach English III AP Language, Debate, and Speech. In my spare time, I enjoy grading essays, watching the San Diego Padres and Portland Timbers, and buying more books than I could ever hope to read. I travel as often as I can, and occasionally write about and take photos of what I’ve seen.
I came to Helena High after a period of wandering that included attending law school for two days, coaching debate at Carroll College for four years, and teaching in Great Falls for nine months, but the real decision to become a teacher probably began in a theater in Billings, Montana, when I saw “Dead Poets Society” for the eleventh or twelfth time. As ridiculous as it sounds, that little movie helped me understand that my passion for language and literature was something that could be shared with others.
I believe that education is about challenging people to see the world in a way they never imagined before, using dialogue and discussion. As Paolo Freire wrote, “Only dialogue, which requires critical thinking , is also capable of generating critical thinking”. Every minute of our lives is an opportunity for education, if we are only willing to let it be.
