Undergraduate degree in Finance and Business Law from JMU. Graduate degree in Computer Science from University of AK

I completed undergrad at James Madison University in Finance and Business Law. I went to the University of Alaska-Fairbanks, while my wife was stationed at Ft. Wainwright, for graduate school where I earned a master's in Computer Science. My graduate research project was Distributed Speech Recognition Services (DSRS), circa 2000, when speech engine technology was still raw.
I, along with my family, relocated to Kent Island in 2004 for a coaching position with the Naval Academy rugby team. Prior to that I coached rugby at the Air Force Academy in CO and then the USA Rugby national team. At that time, rugby was a club sport at USNA therefore all the coaching positions were part time. Full time commitment but part time employment. Teaching enabled me to continue coaching as the school day ends at 3, practice starts at 4, perfect fit. I taught and coached for fifteen years until I stepped back from coaching post-pandemic.
I was hired on a provisional certificate since I had a degree in Computer Science (CS), special thanks to Dr. Hammond (RIP) for taking a chance on me. CS was a fledgling program when I was hired but it has since grown into a full pathway. In addition to writing the curriculum for the four CS courses, I've been able to add components to the CS pathway to heighten the student experience. Such as developing a competitive coding team, establishing local internships, and implementing the middle school coding club.
Each year, a majority of the graduating CS pathway students pursue CS as a college major. Many of whom had no idea what CS was prior to taking their first course in it. I've found that teaching isn't as much about content as it is about positively impacting the lives of our students. I heard that many times over the years but it never struck a cord until it did. Helping my students find their way and/or identify a career path is, I find, the most rewarding part of being a teacher.
When I graduated from HS, I had no idea what rugby was, what computer science was, and had never heard of Kent Island. All three ended up being a big part of my life. Life/work is a winding road with lots of twists and turns. You don't know where you'll end up when it's all said and done. I consider myself very fortunate to have landed at KIHS."
Fun fact: Both of my kids, Catrina and Alec, are products of QACPS. My daughter was an Aerospace Engineering major at Purdue and is now working for Lockheed Martin in their Black Hawk program. My son is currently a Computer Science major at Ga Tech.