Randy Jones:  

I retired from teaching math in public schools after 29 years (27 in Colorado Springs) in May of 2004 and was blessed to be able to begin teaching at a day/boarding school also in Colorado Springs. My wife, Marsha, and I live on campus and are houseparents to 15 boys. We coach both boys and girls tennis together. I also coach basketball. In the public school, I was the head baseball and head softball coach for quite a few years but this school, Fountain Valley School of Colorado, does not presently have those sports. I really enjoy still being able to work with high school students. I get to teach my favorite class which is Algebra III with Trigonometry. Being at a boarding school allows us to get to know the students better. They almost are replacements for our grown kids. Our students come from 16 different countries and over half of the states in the U.S. so they are quite diverse. Our daughter still lives with us. She was diagnosed with Aspbergers when she was in her early 20s and has been learning to deal with it. She is studying to become an accountant. Our son is finishing his first year of medical school at St. Louis University. He was born in Australia while I was an exchange teacher. He has had his parents interest in sports all of his life. He played tennis, basketball, and baseball in high school and baseball in college. He is engaged to a lovely young lady and their wedding will be this coming June. We enjoy travelling. Not coaching baseball and softball teams all summer has allowed us to do much more travelling. Since teaching at FVS, we have been to Europe (able to go to Wimbledon), Alaska, Guatamola, Yellowstone N.P., Glacier N.P., Grand Tetons N.P., and Waterton Lakes Provincial Park and we are heading to China this summer. For some ancient information: I attended the University of Arkansas on a baseball scholarship. I began studying architecture but the drawing classes and baseball practices were at the same time so I switched to math education. I made that decision because I remembered helping a few friends with chemistry around the kitchen table in high school and enjoying that but I liked math better than science so I chose to teach math. I taught in Arkansas for 2 years before moving to Colorado ( I have this thing for mountains). I coached football, basketball and baseball for the first few years but after marrying Marsha, I cut back to just one coaching job which was as head baseball. Our daughter, Stephanie, was born in 1981. In 1985, I took part in an exchange teacher program and taught in Wangaratta, Victoria located about 150 miles north of Melbourne. Our son, Daniel, was born while we were there. The exchange was a great experience. We often thought of moving back to raise our kids. We went back to Australia in 1994 on teacher exchange again so our son could get to know the country he was born in. I taught in Bourke, NSW which is located in the outback about 500 miles north and west of Sydney. It was quite an experience having taught 11 classes, some two differen...Expand for more