I became a teacher because back in 1997 my wife (married 3 years then, now 31) was studying to become an elementary classroom teacher. I was transitioning from a failed minor league baseball career. She said, “Hey, why don’t you become a PE teacher? We can have our summers, holidays, and snow days off together.” I said, “Do you really think I want to go to PE class everyday for the next 30 years?" The best part about my job is seeing my smiling, energetic, mostly happy students each day.

My most memorable teaching experience was teaching a 3rd grade 9 year old student how to ride a bicycle. We had a city sponsored bicycle and pedestrian safety program at our school. Half of it was learning how to ride a bike and road rules. The city would bring a guy and 20 bicycles in a trailer to our school. I had one student name Leo who was having difficulty riding. I was able to work with him alone during three classes that led to him being able to ride. He was all smiles. Felt great.

I would use $25,000 to fund a school based bicycle and pedestrian safety program. This would involve writing curriculum, purchasing a minimum of 50 child sized bicycles, safety helmets, mock street signs, cardboard or particle board car cutouts, lesson modules to be taught on our existing virtual learning platform, guest speakers (eg police, fire, ent, professional cyclists, everyday parent volunteers). I would use this money to promote learning at my school that could be useful for a lifetime.