Q: How long have you been teaching at PHU?

A: Since 1998, that makes it 17 years

Q: Why did you start teaching

A: Well I started teaching from influence of great teachers i had. It was a catholic high school in Trinidad and they wanted to recruit people to be priests and I couldn’t see myself as a priest but i liked the idea of having an impact and inspiring students to transcend themselves and be very successful.

Q: What is your favorite memory teaching?

A; I have so many it’s difficult to pinpoint. I have had so many memories and i have so many memories of students who have been so successful beyond their wildest dreams. Like one in Trinidad who said he wanted to be an astronaut. I didn’t tell him he couldn’t be I told him to go for it. He ended up doing aeronautical engineering and working at NASA. I just sort of fanned their flames and encouraged them, that’s it.

Q: How do you feel about leaving PHU?

A:  Well it’s sad. I’ve been here 17 years, it has occupied a lot of my time. IB students for me are very well performing students, well behaved, And we consider ourselves blessed to have students like this.

Q: How has PHU changed since you’ve been here?

A: Well, just physically you no longer have the portables. Because when i first came to visit there were no portables when Dr. Cline hired me but, when I came in August there were 14 portables. And that changed the physical arrangement of the school, because instead of grass between buildings, you had woodchips. And now it has reverted back to what it was like except, we didn’t have a driving range. The design capacity of the school was 1650 students and the first year I was here it was almost 300 more, it just kept going up. Students are students.

Q: What classes have you taught?

A: When i first came I taught French and Spanish. French sophomores and seniors and then i taught spanish through IB. I had one or two traditional french classes which i didn’t like, and then the subsequents year I taught traditional spanish. I was glad when Mrs. Michaels ??? retired in 2006. I came up to this classroom and since then I have taught nothing but IB. I prefer that because I don’t have discipline problems or problems with kids not doing their homework; that sort of stuff.

Q: What class or grade has been your favorite to teach?

A: I like teaching freshman because then i can prepare them to eat the elephant. Also, the seniors due to preparing them for exams and seeing them get diplomas and seeing the finished product?

Q: What will you most teaching?

A: I like teaching, talking with students and encouraging them because too many students don’t have confidence in themselves. And I believe you can do anything you want to do. You can only have a dream come true if you have a dream. I believe if you start giving up on your dreams, you get in the habit of giving up. That’s why I keep encouraging people.

Q: What advice would you give to your students?

A: This is the time of your life where you are becoming independent from your parents, you are like birds being taught to fly. You are going to have to flex your wings. Stay on the safe side and be kind to others and yourself. Have that confidence in yourself and do the right things. You are not going to get everything in life but, you will get the things you bargain for.

Q: Is there anything else you would like to add?

A: Palm Harbor is a great school with great students and students are fortunate. You have an exceptional faculty and it’s a nice safe environment. I would just say have hope for the future and do the best that you can.