Upon being graduated from Louisiana State University in 1999 with an MA in pedagogy, emphasis secondary English Language Arts, he moved to Niigata and, from 2000-16, served as an Assistant Language Teacher with the Niigata City Board of Education. Currently in his second year at NUM, his interests include, in addition to active learning, English-language kamishibai, or Japanese picture-card storytelling, in the dual contexts of community revitalization and early English education.