About Chad Manis

First of all, I sincerely thank you for taking the time to learn a little about me.

I graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree, teaching major of English and/or Language Arts, from Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana, in 1975. I earned my Master of Education Degree from the University of North Florida, Jacksonville, Florida, in 1982.

After my first year of teaching in Pierce County, Georgia, in 1976, the rest of my teaching career has been spent in Jacksonville, Florida, where I have had the distinct pleasure and continual challenge of serving students in grades 6-12.

The majority of my classroom experience, however, has been at the middle school level–first with a tour of duty at Eugene J. Butler Middle School, 900 Acorn Street, here in Jacksonville, and more recently at Twin Lakes Academy Middle School, 8050 Point Meadows Drive, also here in Jacksonville.

After 33 years of service as both a language arts and journalism teacher, I retired on November 30, 2009.  However, I am actively pursuing an opportunity to reenter the classroom–a task made quite daunting due to the current state of the economy.

In the meantime, I stay connected to the world of teaching through regular contact with my former colleagues.  In support of this blog and my other websites, I spend significant time staying abreast with current educational trends–what’s new, what works, and what doesn’t work.

As they say, once a teacher, always a teacher.

There is one other thing that you may find interesting . . .

Since childhood, I have always enjoyed photography.

In the late 70’s I was using a 35mm, fully-manual, Pentax film camera. When I got my first desktop PC in 1984, the Pentax went into the camera bag where it remains to this very day.

For the last few years, I have been observing the evolution of the digital SLR and becoming more and more intrigued with the possibilities. With new-found time on my hands, I recently took the plunge, and I have to say, I’m having a great time!

No more buying roll after roll of film. No more turning in negatives and paying to see the results. And, a digital darkroom at my fingertips to boot!

If you would care to see a few samples, please follow this link.

Once again, thanks for your interest.  I hope you enjoy this blog, my website articles, software, and photographs as much as I like creating them!