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From 1970 to 1977 I taught in small, rural school districts in
Ohio and in the mountains outside of Albany, NY. My family and
I have seen enough cows, barns and milk trucks to last a
lifetime. We enjoyed the farm experience: especially taking our milk
pail to the farm and dipping raw milk from the holding tank. Talk about
fresh milk at the dinner table!
I taught
for 20 years at Herkimer County Community College in upstate New York, just
east of Utica. During those years I had the opportunity to teach
courses in business, math, and computer technology.
In 1995 I was appointed HCCC Coordinator for Distance Education.
For the
next two years I co-managed the county-wide Interactive Television Network (ITVN)
connecting Herkimer County school districts and HCCC. HCCC offered several courses for high school students
while the high schools shared courses amongst themselves via the ITV network.
May-June 1996 found me teaching a summer session at York County
Technical College when the
College was located in Village By The Sea (a condominium
resort on Route One in Wells). I had the opportunity to teach during the
College’s first year of operation. My wife, Diane, and I shared a working vacation--I worked four
days at the college and she relaxed at the Marginal Way House
across from the beach in
Ogunquit.
The York County Technical College (now York County
Community College) students, staff and faculty so impressed us
during our stay that Diane and I made the decision that I
should apply for the full-time faculty position. I accepted the Technology
and Applied Science Department Chair position in August 1997 and
served in that capacity until May 2005. August 2005 found me
in the classroom where I continue to teach a full course load--both
online and in the classroom. Diane has been known to teach the
Computer Applications course.
In
June 1998 Diane and I traveled to Colorado and California so that we could learn about distance
education, specifically teaching college courses using a "new"
technology called the Internet.
Based on the research, YCCC
offered its first online course (Visual Basic) the spring semester
of 1999. The College
has continued to develop its online offerings with many courses available.
One of our goals
is to have a fully-online associate degree.
August of 2008 I returned to
YCCC as Adjunct Faculty teaching online courses and to work on special
projects. The current project is bringing college classes to the rural
parts of York County via a two-way videoconferencing system. The
technology uses the Internet to connect the YCCC classroom in Wells with
the Massabesic and Sacopee Valley communities. Our first degree program
to use the technology in the fall of 2009 is Medical Assisting. I
believe a more appropriate term is semi-retirement.
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Diane and I live in Kennebunk with our pug, Miss Pugsley.
Miss Pugsley is a registered therapy dog that loves to visit with everyone.
Our son, Brian, works in IS for Staples.com, and lives in Marlboro, MA. You
may view Brian's web site by clicking the link to the left. Our daughter,
Marilou Haren, is a physical therapist living and working in San Antonio,
TX.
The summer of 2008 was my tenth season giving tours for the Intown Trolley in
Kennebunkport. Talk about a great job for a
teacher (think of the
trolley as a rolling classroom that when the door
closes--a captured audience). I
explain the history of Maine, talk about living in the
Kennebunks, point out historic homes, and discuss whatever topic happens to
pop up during the tour. Occasionally I drive the trolley out to
Walker Point for family functions. Famous passengers include the
"twins." Barbara Bush
(whose rose bushes I almost drove over with the trolley), and a
good number of visitors from across the USA. And yes, I have talked with President George H.
W. Bush. The biggest benefit of my summer job is enjoying the drive by the
ocean for hours at a time--and getting paid at the same time. The summer
traffic in Kennebunkport can be what I describe as challenging--I
constantly hone
my driving skills avoiding cars and people.
Marilou and son-in-law,
Major Steve Haren, presented us with this flag from one of his deployments to the Middle East.
Our thanks to Steve for service
to our country
Fly Safe

To see a larger image, please click the
photo
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