About Me

My Resume

I teach middle school band and 6th grade music and guitar at the DuBois Area Middle School in rural Northwest Central PA. We are a fairly large rural School District (around 300+ students average per grade level) that encompasses a large geographic area. Sort of an anomaly in Pennsylvania, as most school districts our size are much more urban.

My lovely wife (Rebecca) is the Chorus director at the Middle School, where she manages the 300+ member chorus. 

I have three kids. Max is 14, Maddie 12, Molly 7.  

Numerous studies have shown huge benefits to other academic areas as a result of studying music.  Not that this is the only reason to study music, but it is a wonderful "side-effect" of studying something that is a unique part of the human experience.

I grew up in Erie, PA and did not get actively involved in music until 9th Grade.  I have several relatives that were involved in music, most notably my grandparents on my Dad's side who were semi-professional night club musicians- a singer and drum set player.  My mom played clarinet and piano, but stopped in college.  Her father was an excellent trumpet/ cornet player, and I use his trumpets a lot in class.  Rumor is my Dad made Mom quit band in college.... something about being around all those attractive male clarinet players, I think.   Speaking of Dad, he tells a mean story about he and his fraternity brothers at Clarion University kidnapping the IUP marchng band's drum major because the band was warming up too early in the morning across the street from their frat house.  They were forced to let the major go when confronted with 100+ band members charging their house at full speed.  IUP's band was all male at that time, and the image of the entire band charging towards their frat house to rescue their comrade is quite interesting. 

My older brother started on musical instruments when he was young, playing piano (with ultimate designs on playing pipe organ in the Cathedral in Erie) and baritone and eventually tuba.  He became an hard-core band member in HS and in typical small band fashion, attempted to recruit anyone with a pulse in a 30-mile radius who was not fast enough to run away.  After some protesting, I reluctantly decided to join the summer before 8th grade.  I quickly found my niche in "Band Land" and got very involved. While my school did not participate in PMEA District or Regional Band (for some silly reason that has been lost to the annals of time), I still worked fairly hard on my instrument (trombone) and quickly became first chair... well, that wasn't hard since there were only three trombones in the band...   But I am living proof that you can start band (or any musical activity) late and get a lot out of it. I have been successful in getting a lot of kids to join band as older students in my years, and I attribute my own experiences to my life as an older beginner.  Older kids often have the muscle coordination and physical strength for bigger instruments (ie. sax and trombone) that little kids lack.  Look at trombone drop-out rates compared to other instruments and you will agree.

After high school I did not put enough thought into what I should do with my life, and went into plastics engineering.  My parents thought that since I liked to take things apart, that was a good calling for me.  They neglected to notice that I do not like putting them back together again, an important skill for those in the field.  Also, I did not exactly excel in (or really have more than a slight interest in) science and math in HS, also necessary skills.  Soon I was spending more time volunteering with my HS band as a sometime-paid staff member than I was studying and even going to classes in college.  I contemplated switching my major to philosophy, but realized that philosophy majors really exist only to make more philosophy  majors, and didn't I like the way I looked in Birkenstocks or sweater vests.  I also acquired a desire for permanent housing (VW mini-bus campers don't count) and occasionally eating things other than hummus and goat cheese.

I switched to Edinboro University after some time off working in a Plastics Plant.  Funny since I was originally in a Plastics Engineering program.... not funny since I was making $5 an hour and had to clean up small lakes of leaking oil in the lawsuit-bait plant.  In fact, we were investigated by OSHA while I was working there...  that was a really fun day!  I came into college part 2 with some teaching experience under my belt and REALLY knowing what I want to do, which was teach music, preferably band.

I decided to apply myself to whatever challenges lay ahead to the best of my ability.  The summer before my senior year, I marched with the Phantom Regiment, a competitive Drum and Bugle Corps from Illinois.  I again found myself able to do things I never thought myself capable of.  It was by far the most challenging physical and musical activity I have ever done.

 After about 17 years of teaching, I have now covered pretty much every level of education possible.  I taught 4-12 grade instrumental in a Catholic School system in St. Marys, PA for 6 years, until my job was reducted to part time. I got a job in the Ridgway School District for 6-12 band and did that for two years.  In 2006 I was hired for an elementary general/ instrumental music position in the DuBois district, and was moved in the spring of 2007 to HS band at DuBois Area High School.  I greatly enjoyed teaching elementary music, something I had not done for 10 years prior to that, during my student teaching.  Hopefully someday I can get back to elementary music, which is the most important part of a good school music program. The amount of energy it takes is staggering...

Currently one of my greatest educational passions has been African drumming... I have been casually using rhythm-based communal circles in various forms both in school and out for a few years now. I have seen some great effects (both musical and extra-musical) of community rhythm activities, and I hope to further my training and become a certified drum circle facilitator. If you have never participated in a drum circle, you owe it to yourself to get involved!

I recently graduated from Boston University with a Masters of Music Education degree. I was part of the first group of students studying Music Education in an entirely on-line format. It's a lot of work, and very interesting.  Have a great day, and I hope my website can be of use to you.

Have a great day!