It’s been quite a journey, and 20 years ago I never imagined it would end up here.  Yet, in a strange way it makes perfect sense.

After earning a Trustee Scholarship to Boston University (a full-tuition scholarship), I imagined that my life would be spent teaching music.  And for quite a while, it was.  I taught Music in Trumbull, Connecticut, in a perpetually shrinking music program.  Finally, in 1993, I was at the bottom of the barrel and looking for work.

Fortunately, I landed in Weston, CT.  I was hired by a formidable lady named Doris Fiotakis, who had a thriving music and theatre program well in hand.  Doris quickly became a mentor and dear friend, and for the next decade we continued to develop the Weston arts program.  In addition, I developed a passion for all things technology, and helped our program charge into the 21st century.  Then, after a decade of nights out, and with a new baby on the way, a move to administration seemed like the next natural step.

My first stop was in Meriden, where I was fortunate enough to be hired by a principal named Greg Shugrue.  Greg, too, is a friend and mentor, and now a successful principal in New Milford.  For two years we helped move our inner-city high school in a positive direction.  Then, Greg was called to a job closer to his home, and I was recruited to an administrative role in New Canaan.  It seemed like a perfect fit for my skills at the time.

Before long I realized that I was not suited for the Central Office life.  The highly political netherworld of district administration was not a good fit for my direct, high-energy, change-agent nature.  The program, and the wonderful teachers there, needed someone with more seasoning and savvy than I could bring to the table.  By the end of our second year, we agreed to part ways amicably.

I landed on my feet, and in my own back yard, at Newtown High School.  I was brought to the team for my technological skills, my penchant for change, my hard-charging personality, and how well I synced with the administrative team at the time. Then, the principal who hired me left.  Her replacement had a very different vision for the way a high school should run, and a leadership style that did not leave room for dissonance or dialogue.

The last chapter opened at Emmett O’Brien High School a couple of months into the school year.  Again, for much of the year things went swimmingly.  Then, toward the end of that year I ran afoul of the bureaucracy, missing details in the paperwork and running afoul of the good graces of my most current principal.

At this point it became clear that I wasn’t a fit for public school administration.

So at first I tried to return to the classroom.  But, with a checkerboard administrative record, 20 years experience, and a job market flush with young, inexpensive alternatives, the public school classroom jobs were simply not available.

Fortunately, I had been studying Kung Fu for a while at Steve DeMasco’s Shaolin Studios of Newtown.  They were growing fast, and I was looking for work. I enrolled in their Academy of Professional Martial Arts Instructors.  Before long I was connected with an investor, earned my black belt in Shaolin Chuan Fa, graduated the academy, and opened Steve DeMasco’s Shaolin Studios of Fairfield.  I serve there as the Chief Instructor.

I’m glad to be teaching again.  At the end of the day, that’s what I was put on this earth to do.  After reading all this, if there is anything you think I can contribute to your organization, please be in touch.