ONE SENTENCE SUMMARY
I live in Washington/Hudson Heights, teach in the South Bronx, and have two small children.
A Mad Corny Dork
I've been a gamer since Pong. I actually say "may the force be with you" to people out of habit.
Educator
I believe in public education as the heart of democracy. Before my years as a teacher in NYC, I worked as Special Assistant to a Regional Superintendent (region9). I also worked in the central admin of the NYC school system as the original point person for charter schools. Before that, I spent 5 years as a doctoral student in sociology & philosophy of education (but never finished that PhD--ooops). I currently teach seniors in a college-prep high school.
Writer
As a teen, I co-founded a high school "magazine" devoted to creative writing and expression (promptly banned by our school admin). As an adult, I've tried to cultivate the habit of waking before dawn to write. My students inspire me. I’ve been rewriting the same sci-fi novel since 2010.
Dad
I’m the father of two fierce dragons. They seem genetically designed to elbow me in the diaphragm when I least expect it. When I count my blessings, I start with them.
Random Facts about Jude:
Knows actual people named Orion, Jupiter, and Zeus.
Grew up both in NYC and Upstate NY.
Knows how to start a campfire in the rain.
Tries to hide an unhealthy obsession with world mythology relating to bees/honey. Don't ask!
Started a website & listserv in 1994 that became the primary "online" source of information on charter schools during the 1990s.
"Beta tested" dozens of video games.
Lost most of his sense of smell at age 17-18.
Brewed a lot of beer while at Wesleyan University.
Witnessed the aurora borealis from the rocky cliffs of a mountain top.
Sang in a lead role of a high school musical (Anyone Can Whistle).
Survived being surrounded by howling wolves in the woods.
Needed a lawyer in high school.
Ruined the taping of a Romper Room TV episode by refusing to sit during Simon Says (she was wrong).
Spent time hanging out at Mark Twain's grave as a teen.
Learned to ride a bike in Washington Square Park (NYC).
Wrote a video game in 6th grade.
Lived through three fires and two ceiling collapses.
Once kept over 100 plants, mostly bonsai.
Witnessed a woman in a motorized wheelchair cutting through 6 lanes of traffic (Grand Concourse) while talking on a cell phone...and I forgot to take a photo.
Created a web app called BiblioBasket, back in the steampunk HTML 2.0 days.
Practiced zazen/meditation for many years (and is still recovering).
Named his first pets (birds) Peanut Butter & Jelly.
My dissertation proposal title was Social Epistemology of the Charter School Movement (okay, so like imagine post-structuralism as Mothra and Habermas as Godzilla, with feminist theory and John Dewey trying to figure out how to save the city with their bare hands).
