A. I do. I am a certified dive instructor and often visit elementary and secondary schools to offer short programs on marine science and an introduction to scuba diving.
Q. What are some of your other hobbies?
A. I love baking during the holidays. I bake 600 dozen cookies and an additional 100 nut, poppy and apricot rolls to give to family and friends. Everybody seems to like my chocolate chip cookies. The recipe is no secret. I use the recipe on the back of the bag for Toll House chips. I also enjoy gardening and traveling. As part of my theology studies – I double majored in college – I traveled throughout Europe as well as to several countries in the Middle East, including Israel and Lebanon.
Q. Did you have a favorite teacher growing up?
A. Aside from my parents, who always encouraged me to keep learning, I had a religion teacher my sophomore year who I really respected. Even though we were still in high school, he treated us like adults and listened to what we would say. He didn’t tell us what we should do. He asked questions and made us think so we could come to our own conclusions.
Q. What do you see as the greatest value Middle States accreditation brings to schools and school systems?
A. Middle States accreditation is all about growth and improvement. The peer review process is an important part of that. In fact, our member schools routinely tell us that participation in the Middle States peer review is one of the most valuable and professionally rewarding steps in the accreditation process- for both their home school and visiting team members. Also, at Middle States we respect the unique character of individual schools and don’t have a one-size-fits all approach to accreditation. We also realize that while data is helpful there is more to success than test scores alone.
