My post secondary educational career began at Cape Fear Technical Community College in Wilmington, North Carolina in 1986. After spending one semester at Cape Fear in a general course of study I applied and was accepted at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington in the spring of 1987. While at UNCW I majored in History and was accepted into the Watson School of Education earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in Secondary Education.
My first
full time teaching assignment took place at South View High School in Hope
Mills, North Carolina. While at South
View I taught a broad spectrum of Social Studies courses ranging from Civics
and Economics to Advanced Placement European History. South View also afforded me the opportunity
to coach several sports over my five year tenure there. I will always have fond memories of South
View because it gave me a strong foundation as a teacher and coach.
After five years at South View I applied for
a teaching and Head Varsity Basketball coach position at Topsail High
School. I was offered and accepted the
position as an In School Suspension Coordinator and Head Varsity Basketball
Coach. I stayed at Topsail High for
three years and had a great experience as a teacher and coach.
After my
third year at Topsail High School I applied to Masters in School Administration
program at UNCW. I was accepted at UNCW
in the MSA program and also was recruited to teach at Lakeside Alternative High
School in New Hanover County. My
experience at Lakeside was invaluable. I
taught low socio- economic students and students that were removed from the
regular high school setting for various reasons and also became the assistant
varsity basketball coach at New Hanover High School. At Lakeside I discovered that all students
were capable of learning if given the opportunity to work in a flexible, safe
and structured learning environment. I
became very fond of my students at Lakeside and had the opportunity to see them
grow socially and intellectually. While at
Lakeside I finished my Master’s degree at night as a part time student. In my last year of the MSA program at UNCW, I
received a full time administrative internship position with the state of North
Carolina. I was placed at Snipes
Elementary School in inner city Wilmington for the fall semester and New
Hanover High School for the spring semester.
After earning my Masters I went into Administration full time. I served as Assistant Principal at Johnson
Elementary School in Wilmington, Trask High School in Rocky Point and then
became Principal of Topsail Middle School in Hampstead. After two years at Topsail Middle I applied for
and received the Principalship at Topsail High School.
My wife, JoEl and I
have been married 18 years and have a daughter, Chandler who will be a junior
at Topsail High this year.
In June of
this year I interviewed for the Headmaster’s position at Harrells Christian
Academy. After several interviews I was
offered the position as Headmaster at HCA.
I gladly accepted and feel very fortunate, blessed and honored to be at
HCA. I hope to continue to enrich the
great tradition of HCA with “Excellence in Education through Christian
Motivation.”
