Kevin's Autobiography
I was born in Chesterfield, Missouri, but moved to Denver, Colorado before I was old enough to remember (two). When I was almost three, my brother, Jordan was born in Littleton, Colorado. Up to second grade, I attended Cherrelyn Elementary, and while my parents built their home in a small mountain valley called Indian Hills (near Conifer), I attended Pfifer Elementary for the last half of second grade. In third grade, my family moved into the house they built (literally they built it with their hands and only contracted the excavation of the foundation and the foundation flat work) in Indian Hills and I began attending Parmalee Elementary. From seventh to ninth grade I attended Evergreen Junior High School, and from tenth through twelfth grade, I attended and graduated from Evergreen High School. In fourth grade, my brother Adam was born at the home of my parents. I grew up like many mountain boys mostly outside playing in the woods. Between my dad and other outdoor mentors, I learned survival, hiking, orienteering, backpacking, fishing, rock-climbing, skiing, hunting, and many other outdoor skills. In middle and high school, I was a long distance cyclist, runner, and rock climber. My parents are still married to each other after over 30 years, and I'm very lucky to have been raised by such incredible people in a traditional manner (my dad was the "bread" winner, and my mom was a homemaker). I have two younger brothers, Jordan and Adam, who I am very proud of and are men of the highest character. After graduating from high school early (December of 1992), I enlisted in the U.S. military, and I worked for the Air Force as an anti-terrorism specialist (security specialist). My training included basic, a police academy, a small arms school, a modified Army ranger school (air base ground defense), and a spec. forces expeditionary school (S.F. Alpha). I was stationed at K.I. Sawyer A.F. Base in the U.P. of Michigan. I also participated in a classified combat support mission (Operation Southern Watch), in 1994, in the Middle East (Eskan Village and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia). Upon separating from the military, I returned to Colorado and worked at The Snow Leopard Ski Shop earning savings for college. In the Spring of 1995, I was invited to join a former teacher, climbing partner, and very good friend on a trekking / climbing adventure in Nepal. While there we hiked over 50 miles in the Solo Khumbu, and ascended a small trekking peak west of Everest named Kala Pattar (18,600 feet high). On that trip, I also spent time in Bangkok, Thailand and on the island of Phuket, Thailand. In autumn of 1995, I began attending the University of Northern Colorado. While in college, I worked as a security guard for the local Trauma One E.R., and I also ran my own window washing business. I graduated from UNC in 1998 with a 3.9 GPA, and took the LSAT with the intention of attending law school and becoming a District Attorney or Public Defender. To save money, work with youth and work in a quasi law enforcement position, I took a job as the lead security agent at Eaglecrest High School, in the Cherry Creek School District. The school had 2400 students and over 300 staff. While working at Eaglecrest, the Columbine School incident occurred, and I was deeply affected by the tragedy. I decided that I wanted to pursue a career in education. To save money faster so that I could attend school to attain my teaching license, I took a position working as a bookstore manager (I managed nearly 3 million dollars of gross sales a year at the Arapahoe Community College Bookstore). After nearly two years of "pushing pulp", I returned to school (Metropolitan State College of Denver) to become a licensed teacher. While in school, I substituted in local districts, and after Sept. 11th, because of my security and teaching background, I was offered a position as an ELL instructor / security agent for a Denver Muslim K-8th grade private school, Crescent View Academy (the community had been threatened with and targeted by violence). A year later, after threats subsided, I left to take a job with the Colorado Dept. of Youth Corrections (D.Y.C.) as a high school English teacher at Ridge View Academy. Because the facility had a shortage of veterans qualified for the position, for the first three months I worked as one of the program's boot camp drill instructors. The memories of working with the men who were former special forces medics, green berets, rangers, soldiers, Marines, and others who could have chosen to be high-paid mercenaries (many of us pondered going to Afghanistan or Iraq as private contractors), but instead chose to be models for at-risk, criminal boys. For the next three years, I worked as one of the facility's English teachers. After a third year-long tour with the high burn-out, year-round Dept. of Youth Corrections position (the national average tenure for a D.Y.C. teacher is two years!), I decided to "retire" to a traditional, rural middle school. I currently live on my small "Wranch" near Alamosa, Colorado (just a few miles west of Sand Dunes National Park), with my pack goats, chickens, cat, and dog. For my day job, I work as one of Monte Vista Middle School's English teachers. My current hobbies include that I continue to be an avid mountaineer. In the course of my life, I've climbed many of Colorado's 14'ers (including the most technical and difficult). I�ve climbed both fifth and sixth class routes, alpine routes, backpacked several sections (the highest and most beautiful sections in the San Juans) of the Colorado and Colorado Divide Trails, and outside of Colorado, I've visited and climbed in the Cascades and Himalayas. In 2005, in near blizzard conditions (and high avalanche potential), with a privately organized climbing team, I successfully led and summitted Mt. Rainier after a potentially fatal crevasse incident. Currently, in addition to teaching and mountaineering, I enjoy spending time on my farm. Lastly, I'm the Director of our local mountain rescue team (Alamosa Volunteer Search and Rescue), a member of the American Alpine Club, the American Avalanche Association, the American Mountain Guides Association, the National Council of English Teachers, and I'm one of twelve people on the State Union's Teaching & Learning Advisory Council. Thanks for reading my autobiography!
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