I am a relative new-comer to the community; Timberly (my wife and HCS alum), George (my son and HCS Kindergartener), and I moved from Vermont to Mascoutah last year. Timberly was ready for a return to her roots, and it was time for us to migrate.

In Vermont, Saint Michael School (Pre-K to 12th grade, 100 students total) employed me to teach math and science to middle and high schoolers. Ultimately, they indoctrinated and converted me to Catholicism in the first few years of my stay, and I received my official “Triple Whammy” into the faith at Easter Vigil, 2016. If you asked me two years ago where I’d retire, I’d have said “Saint Michael School.” But life’s path isn’t so predictable!

When we first began planning our move to Mascoutah, I asked Timberly’s father Rob (another HCS alum) where I should seek employment as an educator, given the choice. His response was quick and certain: “Holy Childhood.” But after I moved here, I found that getting a teaching job at HCS wasn’t easy, as teachers tend to stick around for decades (which I regard as evidence of a vital community institution).

Thank God my parents gave me the gift of music education! I have been studying music since early elementary school, am a classically trained trumpeter, have started numerous bands of many flavours, and have played the streets and subways of New York. I have been lugging boxes of instruments, sheet music, and music education literature for years (much to my wife’s chagrin) and finally have a real use for them!

My goals at Holy Childhood are numerous and include strengthening my faith and works within the Church, promoting a love and understanding for music and all the blessings it bestows upon us, bolstering the technical abilities and critical thinking of our children, and getting a band of instruments and voices together that gets arm-hairs to stand up (in a good way).

One of my colleagues started every day with a greeting… he asked his students to look into each other’s eyes as they said “good morning.” Just before the greeting, he said, “You are gazing into the eyes of a child created in the likeness of God.” I carry this message with me every day I enter the classroom.

I thank you in advance for your patience as I head into the year with a fresh pair of training wheels. I promise to you I will work with diligence and compassion, and I pray I can perform to the esteemed level of my predecessors. See you soon!