All told, 2025 was a pretty good year. Not the best, far from the worst. It was the usual hectic mix of activities and travel, work and writing, and family and friends. Of the latter, the loss of my dear friend Peter David loomed large all year. We got a heads-up just days before he […]
The first week of school is always exciting. A fresh start for students and faculty alike, a realm of possibilities presents itself from the opening bell. This year was no different. I have a packed schedule, six classes instead of the usual five and my two freshmen honors classes took a little while to warm […]
It used to be that summer colds happened, and you didn’t think twice about. These days, even the sniffles are suspect. So, when I began feeling congested and coughed a bit last Saturday, I didn’t think much of it. On Sunday, though, I realized that after traveling, and with a week of sitting in close […]
2024 was packed and, therefore, exhausting. That sums it up, so you can stop here if you’re not interested. For whatever reason, circumstances conspired to make this a very busy year, gaining momentum by the month and then the week. It all ground to a halt on Christmas Day, and we welcomed a day to […]
My eighth year at St. Vincent Pallotti has drawn to a close, and overall, it was a satisfactory year. As always, I delight in the honors freshmen, enjoying easing them into the school culture. I had two sections, as usual, and each had a very distinct personality. They arrived better prepared for high school than […]
Teachers reported back on August 20, and it was as if we hadn’t been apart for ten weeks. The newcomers were warmly welcomed, and we spent the off-site session focusing a lot on our students’ mental state. We hadn’t discussed this previously, and it was welcome, unintentionally echoed by the priest during the mass that […]
My 2023 New Year’s Resolution was to write at least one blog a week, and I failed at that miserably with just 30 out of the hoped-for-52. Looking back, 2023 wasn’t a bad year. There were certainly highlights and, thankfully, a few low points. So, I guess you could call it a good one. Turning […]
I have been hearing about KAIROS since the year I regularly subbed at St. Vincent Pallotti High School. Three times a year, one-third of the juniors are whisked away to a retreat center, and when each gaggle returns, I hear how transformative it was for them. Finally, late last school year, I asked our Director […]
I report back to St. Vincent Pallotti High School this morning, beginning my sixth year as a teacher there. Somehow, the ten-week summer break has evaporated and the 2022-23 academic year is poised to begin on the 29th. So, what did I do on my summer vacation? The big project was writing the second Above […]
When Pallotti opened its doors to students on September 3, no one imagined we’d still be open without having to shut down to control Covid-19. But, we have not lost a day to the coronavirus. We’ve lost more time to the weather and have remained hybrid. It’s been a struggle as we continued to master […]
The school year has taken shape after evolving all summer long. We’re going with a hybrid plan that will see the classes split in two with the Blue Team being in the building on Mondays and Thursdays with the other half watching via video. The White Team will be in my classroom on Tuesdays and […]
2020 is proving to be a year where you cannot predict what will come next let alone prepare for the future. The goalposts keep moving as the world writhes under normal events, a pandemic, and a racial debate that’s long overdue. While Deb and I have been sheltering in place, being as cautious as we […]
When I was hired to teach at Owings Mills High School, I was assigned freshmen classes and as my schedule was modified the next two years, I had many of the same students again, and again. That amount of day-to-day contact led to certain bonds being formed so it was incredibly sad when my principal […]
Having two new preps – Introduction to Literature and Honors Introduction to Literature – have certainly proven to be more time consuming than I anticipated. First, I plan the former, then modify it for the latter, altering the pacing and type of work they do. As a result, the last few weeks have been a […]