Hello
I have spent my entire adult life in the field of education. I have worked with children as young as three years old to adults well into their senior years. I have taught, led departments, and coordinated programs in public schools and international private institutions. I have had the pleasure of working with elementary, secondary, and postsecondary students from all over the world. I have helped teachers find success with students with extremely diverse ethnic, linguistic, cultural, and socioeconomic backgrounds. I have previously lived in the USA, France, Japan, and now in Mongolia.
My Story
I enjoy incorporating my undergraduate studies in linguistic and cultural anthropology, graduate studies in teacher leadership, and knowledge gained from the Principal Training Center to create culturally and linguistically responsive learning environments. In my free time, I enjoy various activities such as spending time with my family, playing and designing board games, tinkering with electronics, and studying languages.
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​Language acquisition, multilingualism, and being internationally minded are not just essential parts of my teaching practice, they are a huge part of my family's identity. My wife, Kieko, who comes from Akita, Japan is also a language acquisition teacher. In our home, she only speaks in Japanese to our son, Nori, who can communicate in English and to some degree in Japanese. Our family frequently uses translanguaging to combine our full linguistic repertoires to communicate.
Even though I was born in Las Vegas, NV, I spent most of my childhood in rural Nebraska and Northeastern Colorado. Growing up, I was always curious about other languages and cultures. When I graduated from high school, thanks to the Rotary Club, I had the privilege of becoming an exchange student in France. As a student in the Rhone Valley region of France, I developed a great deal of empathy for language learners, and the challenges they face as students.
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Overall, I am a globally-minded educator with a passion for language and cultural diversity. My extensive experience spans various educational settings and age groups across multiple countries. My academic background in anthropology and education, combined with my personal experiences of living internationally and raising a multilingual family, have shaped my approach to creating inclusive and culturally responsive learning environments. My life's work reflects a deep commitment to fostering understanding across cultures and languages, both professionally and personally.