Education: Motivating the next generation.
I’m passionate about investing in the lives of our youth. I don’t just dream about philosophical ways to change the lives of students. I live the dream every day. I’ve learned to uncover the tremendous assets we have in our young people in our district as an adjunct professor at Highline Community College. My students represent a wide range of backgrounds and gift sets. Yet each student can deliver when called upon. That’s why I’m committed to seeing each student achieve their potential, regardless of upbringing, financial disposition, or heritage.
I was the Highline High School student body president during the 1986-87 school year. I was also the senior leader of the Highline School District Leadership Committee (Including Evergreen, Highline, Tyee and Mt. Rainier). I’ve always felt that I was put in leadership because I have the innate ability to understand and connect with people from all walks of life. Even as a Senior, I joined this start up group at ERAC called the Multi-Cultural Education Committee…realizing that our community was changing and would be changing in the years to come. And it has.
The educational environment that my children face today is far different from what I faced. Yet, many things hold fast. Students have amazing potential and they long for it to be discovered and appreciated.
During my undergraduate studies at Washington State University, I had the privilege of studying abroad at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark for one-half year. 
I learned a great deal about the ways of other cultures and my own limited view of the world. At that time I witnessed the crumbling of the Eastern Block and had my eyes opened as I witnessed a family crossing the Berlin Wall for the first time with tears in their eyes. I was moved to learn more about transitional societies and how to help people in times of change.
After completing my Bachelor’s Degree at Washington State University, I was given the opportunity to teach and research the effects of American broadcast media on the Soviet Union and their desire for change to democracy. I visited Moscow several times and saw first hand the struggles they faced. My research enabled me to earn a Masters Degree in Communication from the Edward R. Murrow School of Communication in 1993.
My wife Janet and I were married in 1994. She was an elementary school teacher who also shared a love for children from around the world. In 1998 we decided to donate a year of our lives to serve as volunteer professors at LCC International University in Klaipeda, Lithuania - a former Soviet Republic. With a mixed ethnic population, a high suicide rate and a history of deadbeat dads we had our work cut out for us. We committed ourselves to walking with these students, uncovering their potential, and helping to transform their lives for service in their international community.
The experiences we had there have moved us to stay involved with students from that part of the world. As a result, I currently serve on the university’s board of directors. And we frequently host students in our home who want to learn about the wonderful things our part of the world has to offer.
For the past six years, thanks to my position at Highline, I’ve been able to maintain my focus on students in our district. We are a community of potential. And I’m daily challenged to be one of many called to the task of motivating the next generation.