About Me....
Before you begin the Class Overview, I wanted to share a little about myself with you.
I have been teaching 8th grade Physical Science here at FRMS since the 2000-2001 school year and loving every minute of it. Due to a need that arose, I was asked to also teach 7th grade life science starting in the 2025-2026 school year.
Besides teaching and exploring the world of Science with my students, I am also one of the coaches for our the Middle School Science Olympiad team. Our team has advanced to the State level competition every year since I have been a coach constantly falling into the top 15 schools of the state with our best finish coming in 2016 &2017 with back to back 5th places.
I have also been the sponsor of the Middle School Ski and Board Club since the 2003-2004 school year, the president of the $500 Joseph C. Leftwich Memorial Middle School Scholarship Fund (It is available to 8th graders – If interested, check out the website above), I am the current board president of the Franklin Schools Federal Credit Union, I have coached several of my daughters soccer teams and boys baseball teams, I am an active member of Mt. Hope Presbyterian Community Church in Penn Hills (currently an active session member), I have also been the manager of the Mt. Hope softball team since 2011 (and have been playing on the team since 1991), and as a true Pittsburgh sports fan my favorite teams wear Black & Gold!
I am a 1994 Penn Hills Graduate and earned my Bachelor degree from IUP double majoring in Earth & Space Science Education and General Secondary Science Education. I have been happily married to my wife Heather since 2001 and have three amazing kids that keep me busy. Lexi is a current student in the Plum Borough School District (10th grade) and both of my sons, Giustino and Mario, are currently attending Penn State - Main Campus! (Junior and Freshman)
Besides teaching and all the other things that I have listed above, I enjoy exploring the world around us with my family. There are so many amazing places in this world, and my hope is to experience as many of them as possible.
2019 7-Springs
2019 NYC
2018 Universal Studios
2021 Zion National Park
2022 Mt Hope
A Video of our nearly 6,000 mile 2021 cross-country family road trip in which we visited 17 different National Parks and National Monuments throughout 15 states.
* The school is always changing their technology policies and firewalls. Click here to try an alternative way to view the YouTube Video or use a non-school account.
Now that you know a little about me, you can begin to review the class overview to better understand the expectations of this Science Class.
Use the menu below to view and read each section of the Class Overview.
Start by Clicking (1) Science Class Topics