I became a teacher for a couple of reasons. My parents were in the education field and instilled a love of learning and the importance of education. I also love science and love teaching it. I love being able to teach science and its importance and relevance in my students’ lives. I don’t want my students to just learn science, I want them to love it and understand how important it is to understand science and think scientifically.

I have had many memorable moments as a teacher. The most memorable was a project that we did with Arrow Electronics and the Nathan Yip Foundation to monitor the health of cattle by placing a bolus in the rumen and collect the data using a drone. A thermal camera was added to the drone to monitor the cattle in low-visibility conditions. The project was filmed by the professional media company AspenCore, so it felt like being on a movie set, which was such a cool experience for everyone.

Both my wife and I are teachers, so I would pay off a little debt, but there are also so many things I want to purchase for my classroom. The skies out here are crystal clear and are great for stargazing. I would purchase a couple of telescopes so students can look at galaxies, planets, star clusters, and so many other cool things in the night sky. I would also like to purchase animals and their enclosures for the classroom.