In case you have not heard, I’ve left Newport Harbor High. I'm teaching at Colegio Franklin D. Roosevelt aka The American School of Lima, Peru. My position is Athletic/Activities Coordinator for the High School and I'm teaching 10th grade Physical Education/Health and an elective course called Fit For Life.

My contract is for two years, with incentives to stay longer. I just began privite Spanish lessons and I'm looking forward to escaping the city and experiencing the natural beauty of Peru.

I discovered this whole genre of schools on my flight from Thailand last summer. Sitting next to me was a U.S. teacher from Oregon leaving Jakarta and moving to Warsaw on his next assignment. We talked about the opportunities and lifestyle as an international educator, and I was interested. I applied to one of the two U.S. based recruiting organizations and was accepted. They host a series of recruiting fairs around the world; I attended one in Carmel the first weekend of March. My recruiter Search the other recruiter ISS Who knows what the next two years will bring for any of us. What I do know is that with the exception of my two years at USC I have lived within five miles of Newport Harbor High for 35 years and my roots were growing deep. I haven’t severed all ties to the area, I have been granted a leave of absence from the district and I’ll lease my home in Costa Mesa. I miss Newport Harbor and its quality people (teachers, staff, students and parents).

I'll leave you with this quote: Forcing people to change their attitudes and behavior gets marginal results. The surest way to garner acceptable responses from others is to start by modifying your own conduct.