4th/5th Grade Teacher

Patrick likes to think that he and Crestmont found each other. The story of this union is an amazing circle. Patrick grew up in Santa Fe, New Mexico. After attending UNM for two years in the drama department he moved to the bay area for more training in the performing arts. He attended workshops with Jean Shealton, at that time in Berkeley. The start of a family however prompted other pursuits.

His love for the outdoors and the environment led him through the pre- forestry department at Diablo Valley College. After his acceptance to Humboldt state university he spent a semester exploring a variety of courses including education. It was there he discovered that teaching was the perfect place for him; a place where curiosity, essential questions, wild creativity and variety married his talents in a perfect balance. In 1979 he Graduated from the university with honors, a California teaching certificate and a BS in education. In the same year he began teaching in Portland Oregon where he taught high school and middle school math and later fifth grad. Following a growing dream, he applied for positions in rural Alaska and in 1982 was hired by the Lower Kuskokwim School District.

Teaching for three years in a Yupik Eskimo village shaped a unique appreciation for indigenous peoples and the exciting landscape of the Alaskan tundra. He later moved to Juneau Alaska in 1985 where he had heard that a professional theatre existed in one of the most beautiful locations on earth. While in Juneau he taught from 1985 to 2007 a variety of subjects including: high school drama, correspondence math, alternative high school and the majority of that time in 4th and 5th grades. He spent 22 years in this community where his love for teaching and his passion for acting were nurtured in an environment where the mountains met the sea. After retiring from the Juneau School District in 2007 he move with his wife, Joyce (soprano, actress, director and writer), along with his eight year old daughter, Ariana, back to the bay. Joyce has begun her graduate program in art and religious studies at the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley.

This amazing circle that brought him back to the Bay after an adventurous 28 years of teaching and acting led him to Crestmont where teachers teach. He feels that he has come home to a welcoming community that embraces his varied talents and experiences in what he hopes to be a lasting relationship. His interests remain: the environment, the performing arts, the creative act of teaching, guitar and song writing and his wonderful and caring family.