Aha, my first official blog. So to start, who am I and how did I come to be here? My first home was in Isleworth, London, UK, which was near Richmond which is funny because I now live in Richmond Vermont. I remember the devastation from the blitz in London after the war. When I was 6 we moved to Bristol where many years later I earned by B.Ed degree from Bristol University. I then taught fourth grade at Sefton Park Junior School for the next 5 years. During this time I also worked at the College of St. Matthias as an RA and got to know the "foreign students" from the Univerity of Illinois. One thing led to another and I found myself landing at O'Hare airport on August 5th 1977 to commence study for my PhD. I adapted very quickly to life in the US and absolutely loved it. The only thing I couldn't remember to do was drop my bat when running to first base when playing softball. In cricket your bat goes with you when you run. Five years later I received my PhD in Teacher Education from U of I and was, by then, two years married to Lucie who is still my wonderful wife.

In 1982 we rented a Rider truck and moved east to Vermont towing our beloved gold VW Beetle behind us for me to start my new job in the teacher education program at Trinity College. That winter saw the arrival of our daughter Marie and the start of my Celtic band the Highland Weavers; both are still going strong. One of the highlights of Marie's life so far was playing keyboard in Phish's Mike Gordon's band Rambledove for a year. Lucie and I soon settled in Richmond, Vermont where we have lived ever since. For the past four years we have organized the Celtic New Year event in the village. In 1992 our son Andrew came into our lives and things haven't been quite the same since. He has Down syndrome and is one of the most wonderful and remarkable people I know. He can demolish me in any Wii game and knows who each one of his 250 Mii characters is. Here he is snowboarding at Bolton last winter. The page you just visited is pasrt of my extensive Education Department pages that I'll introduce you to over the course of the semester.

In 1999 after 17 years in Higher Ed. I wanted to get back into the public school and for the next 6 years worked as a teacher professional development specialist in local area schools in the fields of elementary school math and science. In 2005 I was lucky enough to get my current job as associate professor of Education at SMC; a job I absolutely love.