MR. D at FC
I’m thrilled to be considered for the Health and Physical Education position at Fox Chapel Area School District. This website contains sample lesson plans, classroom highlights, as well as a launchpad for actionable, scalable ideas I’m ready to bring to the table in year one. Some are designed to boost student engagement. Others aim to build culture, increase visibility, or solve long-standing challenges in fresh ways. All of them reflect one belief: health and physical education should be relevant, rigorous, and impossible to ignore.
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412-401-5358
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PILLARS OF PRACTICE
Below are core beliefs I build my practice upon to echo Fox Chapel School District’s vision:
To maximize student learning, achievement, and development.
Physical Literacy
Physical literacy isn’t about playing games. It’s about being able to move through life. Real problems like stress, disconnection, and low confidence don’t always show up in test scores. They show up in tight hips, hunched backs, shallow breathing. I strive to teach students how to know their bodies like a second language, so they’re fluent in strength, in stillness, and in self-respect.
Student-led learning
When students lead, they invest. When they invest, they remember. My job isn’t to micromanage, it’s to create conditions where curiosity, risk-taking, and ownership feel natural. I don’t just want students to follow instructions. I want them to design their own playbook.
Activity-based instruction
You can talk about asthma. Or you can have students perform jumping jacks while only breathing through a coffee straw. You can lecture about teamwork. Or you can give a group of students paper, tape, and ten minutes to build something strong enough to support a can of beans. I teach through experience, because lived moments stick longer than spoken words.
Tech with intent
I use technology with intent—not just to impress, but to connect. Today’s students speak in screenshots and scrolls, so I meet them in their language. But I don’t chase trends. I use tech to deepen understanding, build skills, and make learning stick, not just flash across a screen.
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SHOWCASE
Night night, blue light
After discussing the mental health effects of social media, we tackled the blue light menace: that pesky glow that ruins your sleep. Despite knowing the damage it does, many students still stared into their phones late at night like it was no big deal. Enter the challenge: Install a blue-light blocker. The twist? Students had to prove it by snapping a picture of their setup. The result? A bunch of glowing screens… that aren’t glowing anymore.
Paper Tower Challenge
To put their decision-making skills to the ultimate test, students faced a deceptively simple challenge: build the tallest paper tower capable of holding a can of beans—using as few sheets of paper as possible. Cue the chaos. Some rushed in, stacking wildly. Others strategized, folding, reinforcing, actually thinking ahead. And then there were the ones who realized—too late—that maybe, just maybe, planning for the end goal matters. This hands-on feat of engineering reinforced key decision-making concepts: thinking long-term, problem-solving under pressure, and understanding that every choice (or poorly placed fold) has consequences.
Screen Time Showdown
As part of our mental health unit, we dove into social media—the good, the bad, and the brain-rotting. Buried inside a larger assignment was a seemingly harmless task: Check your screen time. And then? Silence. Staring. A few nervous laughs. The realization hit—hours lost to doomscrolling, streaks, and watching some guy build a pool in the jungle. “Wait… there’s no way that’s right. There’s no way I spend THAT much time on my phone.” Oh, but there was. Hours disappeared into the digital void, and for the first time, they really saw it. The results? Eye-opening. Disturbing. Maybe even life-changing. (Or at least enough to make them think before the next three-hour TikTok spiral.)
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LAUNCHPAD
Even though phones and social media can be a threat to focus and connection, I see them as a massive opportunity. In the gym, I emphasize values—effort, growth, sportsmanship—and in the past, I’ve recognized students with MVP honors to spotlight those traits. Looking ahead, I plan to use classroom social media accounts to highlight student wins, showcase daily learning, and reinforce the idea that character matters—online and off.
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LESSON PLAN ARCHIVE
I’m big on virtual classrooms—especially in health, where nearly all of my lessons are scripted and accessible online. This system has helped improve attendance, keep absent students on track, and support differentiated instruction. To view a sample lesson from the Relationships unit, click the button below.