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School / Work Affiliation: Dumont High School

Blog: http://mikeparent.blogspot.com

Website: http://nlcommunities.com/communities/michaelparent/default.aspx

Skype Account: tonsofdrums

About Me: My name is Michael Parent. I am happily married to a wonderful woman (Joanne) and we currently have two awesome, fun, raucous, and Star Wars-obsessed sons. We reside in Northern New Jersey.

When I was younger, I fancied myself a rock star; I played drums in many bands (I still do on my rare spare time) and even had the chance to perform as the opening act for Ace Frehley in 1994. You might have found me with the rocker crowd in high school; Metallica, KISS, Megadeth, AC/DC, and Black Sabbath were some of my musical heroes. Now I’m a bit more tame, but barely.

So how did I wind up in education? As I say, “A funny thing happened on the way to the gig.”

I never took my education seriously. I was an “easy C” student throughout high school (I spent my time playing in bands and rocking out in clubs like CBGBs - by the way I first hit the stage at CBGBs when I was just 15 and pimply) never bringing home books, studying, or reading. After high school I spent some time trying to be the rock star. I soon realized how much I hated that lifestyle after meeting Ace Frehley (thanks Ace! and some low-level music industry scum) so my next option was to go off to college. William Paterson College accepted me and I majored in Literature (somewhere along the line I discovered the world of books - the first real book I ever read was Henry Miller’s Tropic of Cancer) with a minor in Journalism. Now I wanted to be a writer (a la Hunter S. Thompson). When I realized the salaries were pitiful for reporters, I decided to teach literature - focusing on students who needed to discover, like I did, the wonders of great writing.

After teaching high school English for seven years, I made the move to administration. I am currently a high school administrator in Bergen County, NJ. I aim one day to be a Superintendent (or the Commissioner of Education if I ever make friends with a powerful politician!) or begin my own charter school.

Currently I am a member of Cohort XI at Seton Hall University, enrolled in the Executive Ed.D. program for Leadership and Management. I am fortunate to be with a cohort of like-minded administrators from around the country. I admire each of them for their talents and devotion to their missions.

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At 9:00am on October 13, 2012, Amelia said…: Hello dear,I'm Amelia by name,I have something very important to discuss with you,please kindly email be back(
amelia_herbert23@yahoo.com)I will be waiting to hear from you soon.Thanks

At 8:58am on January 17, 2009, Jack said…: Hi Mike. I was wondering if you and your students would be interested in participating in a nationwide SAT Vocab Video Contest @ MIT university. If not, perhaps you have some educator contacts you could direct me to. We'd really like to get students involved from NJ!

You can view contest details at BrainyFlix.com Please let me know. Thanks!