Education:

Seton Hall University 1994 graduate, Masters Degree in General Professional Education.

Jersey City State College 1974 graduate, Elementary Education and a New Jersey State Certificate in Biology.

Snyder High School 1970 graduate

Teaching Experience:

1976 - to June 2010: Eighth grade science teacher in the Flemington-Raritan School District in Flemington, New Jersey.  

1974 - 1976:  Served as the eighth grade science teacher at Beer Street School in Hazlet, New Jersey.

Various Educational Endeavors and Accomplishments:

2008: Taught for The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) the science section of the Methods of Teaching Science and Mathematics in the Inclusive Classroom, for the Graduate course held during the 2008 Fall semester. 

2008: Presented a science workshop at the Center for Integration of Math and Science (CIMS) conference held at Kean Univ.

2008:  Received the Fellows Award from the New Jersey Science Teachers Association (NJSTA)

2007: Taught for The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) the science section of Methods of Teaching Science and Mathematics in the Inclusive Classroom.  Fall 2007

2007: Taught for The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) a 4 week short course on Astronomy Topics for Upper Elementary Teachers

2007: Selected as Teacher of the Year at JP Case Middle School

2006/2007: Chaired the committee to redesign and restructure NJSTA's (New Jersey Science Teachers Association) web site.

2006: At The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) I presented a 2.5 hour workshop on Teaching Astronomy at the Upper Elementary and Middle School Levels.

2005: Instrumental in bringing the MSTEACH program from The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) to our Middle School where I also served as on site coordinator.  At the invitation from TCNJ this summer I worked collaboratively to help create a rubric for the MSTEACH program.  I also assisted in presenting an Astronomy workshop to a variety of teachers at the TCNJ summer TaLL program.

2004:  Serving as an active member of the New Jersey Science Teachers (NJSTA) Exec. Bd. I helped co-design the new logo and new motto to be used in honor of the 100th anniversary of the organization.  This is now the NJSTA's logo and motto.

2003:  Applied to the NASA Educator in Space Program. 

2002:  Selected to, and participated as a panelist on the NJ Earth Science Education Open Forum at the NJ State Science Convention.   

2001: Invited to fly on a NASA, Zero-G experiment flight on a NASA KC 135 aircraft, also known as The “Weightless Wonder” and “Vomit Comet.”  I attended extensive preflight training in Houston, Texas at the Johnson Space Flight Facility.  I took the “flight of a lifetime” and experienced 30 brief periods of Zero-G as well as a “Lunar and a Martian” I received the invitation to participate in this outstanding experience through a former student, Kate Williams, who was completing her work at Carnegie Mellon University.  My class created an experiment to be flown as part of a NASA outreach program and I flew as an observer and “Journalist”.   

2001: Invited to Washington D.C. by Congressman Rush Holt to meet with the National Commission on Math and Science Teaching. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the challenges science teachers face in the classroom, the challenges of maintaining quality teachers in the classroom, and the challenges administrators face in hiring and budgetary restrictions.

2000: Selected to receive a $4000 grant provided by NASA and given to me by the United States Space Foundation.  The purpose of the grant was to bring a Teaching with Space, workshop for teachers, to our district.  The featured presenter was Dr. Jerry Brown, Professor of Aerospace Education for the United States Space Foundation.  The presentations were held on the evenings of March 29^th, 30^th at the Reading-Fleming Middle School and were made available to teachers throughout the state.

1999: Selected to serve on the New Jersey Science Teachers Association Executive Board as the Middle School Chair.  

1997-1998: Attended 10 full day workshops as a participant in the K-12 Partnership Collaboration for the Integration of Internet-based Resources into the Curriculum.  Stevens Institute of Technology conducted the program.

1997: Requested by the New Jersey State Science Convention to be a presenter at the Pre-Convention Conference on October 6th, 1997.  The topic of the presentation focused on the New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards for Science.  The title of my presentation was “Science Activities That Meet the Standard."

1997: Presented for Rutgers University at the request of administrator Jim Morris as a presenter on the topic of misconceptions and misinformation about space and human space exploration.  Approximately 60 college students attended the hour and a half presentation, which took place on the campus of Rutgers University.  Funding was provided by a NASA grant as part of the Bio-Blast Project.

1997: Chosen by The United States Space Foundation to be the host and facilitator for a NASA- funded in-service program titled “Getting Comfortable Teaching With Space.”   I was selected as the recipient based on past involvement with the United States Space Foundation and other aerospace education programs. This presentation took place at the Reading-Fleming Middle School in Flemington NJ.  May 9-10, 1997.        

1996: Presented for New Jersey State Science Convention Pre-Conference, October 7^th. Topic:   Integration of Computers and Technology across the Science Curriculum.  This proposal was accepted and approved by the New Jersey State Science Teachers Association.  The presentation was a four and a half-hour workshop held at the Reading-Fleming Middle School in Flemington New Jersey.

1996: Nominated to Who's Who Among America's Teachers, Fourth Edition, 1996, Volume I.

1996: Selected by the New Jersey Education Association to be a presenter at the NJEA, Instruction and Professional Development Conference, March 8th, 1996. I presented a workshop on Integration of Computers and Technology into the Science Curriculum.  I used the Discover Space software program and had the participants working interactively with the computer to discover information on a variety of space related topics.

1995: Selected by the United Space Foundation to be a presenter at the Getting Comfortable Teaching With Space Program in July, held at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama.  Presentation was made to educators of various grade levels.  Topics included: Integrating Computers and Technology into the Science Curriculum, Astronomy and Aerospace Education, and Soviet Aerospace Programs.

1995: A private educational consulting firm called Knowledge Brokers selected me as model instructor. A video was filmed of me teaching a science lesson to show how I have integrated computers and technology into the science curriculum.  The video was then intended to be shown at various educational seminars and workshops throughout the country.

1994: Inducted into the National Honor Society, Kappa Delta Pi, while completing graduate work at Seton Hall University.

1993:  Attended, at the request of the United States Space Foundation, a weeklong program entitled “Getting Comfortable Teaching with Space.” The program was held at the United States Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colorado. The invitation was extended for me to be a presenter on the Soviet Space program.

1992:  Presented a program about the Soviet Space Program to educators at the New Jersey State Science Teachers Convention.

1991: Served as host for the Kazakhstan students and educators who came to America as the reciprocal group for the AEA student aerospace exchange delegation.

1991: Visited the Soviet Union for a second time, at the invitation of Aerospace Education Association (AEA) and the Kazakhstan Government of the Soviet Union.  I was selected as an Education Delegation Leader.  I took six American students as the first AEA aerospace student exchange delegation.  Our group visited numerous aerospace test and design facilities as well as the Baikonur launch sites and facilities.  The students and I also made presentations to the assistant commissioner of education in Kazakhstan, which was broadcast on Soviet National TV.

1990: In December of 1990 I attended a manned launch in the Soviet Union at the invitation of the Aerospace Education Association (AEA).  I was one of eight educators who were the first educators, and perhaps, first American civilians ever to view a manned launch at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in the Soviet Union.  Two days later we witnessed the Soyuz craft dock with the Mir Space Station, from the Soviet Mission Control Center at Kaliningrad.  We also toured numerous aerospace, test and design facilities, as well as visiting Star City, the home and training center for Soviet Cosmonauts.     

1990: Attended a week long Space Orientation for Professional Educators (SOPE) program at Space Camp and the University of Alabama in Huntsville, Huntsville, Alabama.

1985: Applied to NASA as a candidate for the Teacher in Space Program.