A little about me...
I graduated from West Liberty-Salem high school in 1988 and went to Malone college to study business and accounting. I left college in 1991 and became the general manager at Michael’s Pizza in Urbana. While there I had approximately 400 teenagers work for me in a five-year period. It was during this time that I developed an appreciation for the plight of education in Ohio and left Michael’s to begin my schooling to be a teacher in 1996. I finished my bachelors of science in education in April of 1998 and was hired at Newton to begin in the fall of 1998. I consider myself very lucky to have been hired here and believe that this is truly a special place for the children of our community (including my own). I have had the pleasure of helping in many different capacities in my time at Newton and look forward to future challenges and opportunities with the district. While at Newton I have attained a master’s degree in Educational Leadership in 2006 and I received my secondary principal license in June of 2008.
My wife Karen and I married in 1989 and celebrated our 32nd anniversary on the on the 20th of August. Karen is employed by Riverside of Miami County and serves as an SSA for special need adults.
We have been blessed with 9 children. We had Zach in 1992 and he is a Newton Alumnus with the class of 2010. He currently works at Reynolds and Reynolds in Kettering. He and his wife Alex blessed us with our first grandchild Merida this past Spring. We have also adopted 8 other children. Our oldest daughter Tiffany graduated from Newton in 2007. Tragically, on June 5, 2010 our Tiffany passed away at the age of 20. She continues to be missed by her family and is thought of often. Our son Levi is a Newton Alumnus with the class of 2015. Levi is serving his second enlistment contract as a Marine currently stationed on the Japanese Island of Okinawa at Camp Hanson. He is a trained Combat Engineer (he gets to build and blow stuff up). Our son Nate is a Newton Alumnus with the class of 2016. He enjoys outside activities including hunting and working in landscaping trades. Our daughter Suzie is a Newton Alumnus with the class of 2018. She is currently a resident at a Developmental Center receiving treatment and care for mental health issues that mostly stem from tramatic birth injuries that lead to partial brain damage. It is our hope that the Developmental Center can successfully treat Suzie and she can enjoy the life for herself that many of us take for granted. Our daughter Sharon is a Newton Alumnus with the class of 2020. She attended the Upper Valley Career Technical Center in the cosmetology program focusing on training as a Nail Technician. She successfully passed her State Boards in July 2020. Sharon resides in a studio apartment at our house and is a client of Riverside of Miami County. She currently is volunteering through an adult day service through Goodwill. Might I add here that mental health issues are real and misconception is that a person has to "look or act" a certain way to demonstrate mental health problems. This is a false narrative. Keep that in mind when you see people in the community that don't seem to "get it" like you do. Count your blessings. Kelly and Kyleigh are our twins that are seniors this year at the Career Center in Piqua. Kelly is in the Welding program and Kyleigh is in the Digital Print and Design Program. They enjoy arts and crafts. They both play on the Newton Girls Varsity Soccer Team where Kyleigh is the goalie. Our youngest son is Caleb. Caleb is now a junior and also attending the Career Center this year. He is studying Robotics and hopes to enlist in the military with the goal of eventually becoming a police officer. He is a member of the JV boys soccer team and suffered a season ending ACL injury in our preseason that required surgery on the first day of school! His Mom is still his favorite person and he enjoys time on the XBOX and online computers games with his older brothers (I love how this lets them stay in touch and have a relationship even though Zach and Levi no longer live at home).
The daily routine of managing a large family, getting kids to and from all the extracurricular activities, personal activities related to teaching, and running our family business, Indian's Pizza, keeps us very busy.
My wife Karen and I married in 1989 and celebrated our 32nd anniversary on the on the 20th of August. Karen is employed by Riverside of Miami County and serves as an SSA for special need adults.
We have been blessed with 9 children. We had Zach in 1992 and he is a Newton Alumnus with the class of 2010. He currently works at Reynolds and Reynolds in Kettering. He and his wife Alex blessed us with our first grandchild Merida this past Spring. We have also adopted 8 other children. Our oldest daughter Tiffany graduated from Newton in 2007. Tragically, on June 5, 2010 our Tiffany passed away at the age of 20. She continues to be missed by her family and is thought of often. Our son Levi is a Newton Alumnus with the class of 2015. Levi is serving his second enlistment contract as a Marine currently stationed on the Japanese Island of Okinawa at Camp Hanson. He is a trained Combat Engineer (he gets to build and blow stuff up). Our son Nate is a Newton Alumnus with the class of 2016. He enjoys outside activities including hunting and working in landscaping trades. Our daughter Suzie is a Newton Alumnus with the class of 2018. She is currently a resident at a Developmental Center receiving treatment and care for mental health issues that mostly stem from tramatic birth injuries that lead to partial brain damage. It is our hope that the Developmental Center can successfully treat Suzie and she can enjoy the life for herself that many of us take for granted. Our daughter Sharon is a Newton Alumnus with the class of 2020. She attended the Upper Valley Career Technical Center in the cosmetology program focusing on training as a Nail Technician. She successfully passed her State Boards in July 2020. Sharon resides in a studio apartment at our house and is a client of Riverside of Miami County. She currently is volunteering through an adult day service through Goodwill. Might I add here that mental health issues are real and misconception is that a person has to "look or act" a certain way to demonstrate mental health problems. This is a false narrative. Keep that in mind when you see people in the community that don't seem to "get it" like you do. Count your blessings. Kelly and Kyleigh are our twins that are seniors this year at the Career Center in Piqua. Kelly is in the Welding program and Kyleigh is in the Digital Print and Design Program. They enjoy arts and crafts. They both play on the Newton Girls Varsity Soccer Team where Kyleigh is the goalie. Our youngest son is Caleb. Caleb is now a junior and also attending the Career Center this year. He is studying Robotics and hopes to enlist in the military with the goal of eventually becoming a police officer. He is a member of the JV boys soccer team and suffered a season ending ACL injury in our preseason that required surgery on the first day of school! His Mom is still his favorite person and he enjoys time on the XBOX and online computers games with his older brothers (I love how this lets them stay in touch and have a relationship even though Zach and Levi no longer live at home).
The daily routine of managing a large family, getting kids to and from all the extracurricular activities, personal activities related to teaching, and running our family business, Indian's Pizza, keeps us very busy.
