I have a younger brother, Jim, who is 13 years younger than me (I have two older sisters as well). Jim was a "change of life baby" for my parents. As a teenager and young adult, I carted Jim around, and of course coached many of his sports teams -baseball, soccer, football, and basketball. In college, I picked up an afternoon/evening job coaching the high school JV basketball team at Harvard School (now Harvard-Westlake School). The varsity coach at the time, Greg Hilliard, is an amazing man and educator, and he became a real mentor of mine. I knew that I wanted to work with young people, and since I was an English major in college, teaching and coaching was an easy choice. Almost 40 years later working in schools, I can't imagine doing anything else!

I have so many best parts of my days at MJS, and they all involve interacting with our joyful students. I open the school gate every morning at 7:30 am, and I get to look all of our students in their eyes, give them a fist bump or high five, and check in with them as they begin their day. I also love reading books to our younger students, visiting K-8 classrooms, and I have enjoyed coaching middle school basketball teams. Our students are everything!

I love so many of our Mayfield traditions.
One that immediately comes to mind though is our annual 8th grade Reach Out Assembly. After a year of learning about and exploring outside organizations in need, our 8th graders have a culminating assembly where they share reflections with the entire middle school about their chosen organization, and they present financial support to representatives from these organizations. The entire 8th grade class votes on which student-selected organizations to collectively support financially through all of the fundraising that took place during the school year. It truly is a terrific example of "Actions not Words."

I am so proud that this community so quickly funded and completed the build of Phase 1A of our campus master plan and capital campaign by October of 2024, "Learning Elevated: The Campaign for the Whole Child." Our generous lead donors pledged almost $14 million in less than a year to help fund the build of our state-of-the-art athletic turf field and underground parking garage. 

Marcie and I love to spend time outdoors. We go hiking often and I enjoy ocean kayaking. We both enjoy live music as well. I am also a big sports fan with season tickets to L.A. Rams football, LAFC soccer and Matador (CSUN) Basketball. And of course, I love the L.A. Dodgers and L.A. Clippers (yes, I'm a Clippers fan!).

Marcie and I love the city of New Orleans (the northernmost Caribbean city!). We love the architecture, history, unique Creole culture, music, literature, the people, the neighborhoods, and of course, the food!

Mark Twain (He's my favorite American author of all-time because of his wit, use of satire, passion for equity, and full understanding of human nature), Delores Huerta (Although I actually have shook her hand and said hello, I would want to spend more time with her because she is such a kind, compassionate leader, and a fierce feminist and community organizer.), and Muhammad Ali (He was the greatest boxer of all-time, a bold activist, and philanthropist who possessed an amazing sense of humor).