Classroom Teacher
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Zack is a Google Level 1 Certified Educator and Microsoft Innovative Educator.
Click here to see his teaching credentials: |
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In the era of remote learning, Zack has been hard at work making learning accessible for students via digital lessons, read-alouds and tutorials. Click here to see some of his video content:
Read-alouds
Activities and lessons
Thinking About Books
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"Just Right" Books
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Setting SMART Goals
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What hard things can you do?
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Zack has taught middle and high school level English Language Arts and Video Production courses. Here are some of his course resources:
Zack has used and trained others in the use of a range of apps and digital learning tools. Here are some of those apps:
Zack’s work in curriculum design began shortly after he completed his undergraduate degree at Temple University. Using the knowledge and skills he’d mastered as a film student, he wrote a video production curriculum for fifty high school students in a credit recovery program at Fairhill Community High School in North Philadelphia. The summer program students, all former dropouts, produced a documentary about the dropout crisis in Philadelphia public schools. The film includes students’ personal stories, and interviews with school and public officials, including former Philadelphia mayor Michael Nutter.
Zack’s work in North Philadelphia led him to another video production program at the Arts Academy at Benjamin Rush, another Philadelphia high school. There he worked as a teaching artist with the Big Picture Alliance. These early experiences teaching young people sparked an interest in education, which led him to pursue his teaching license at the University of Pittsburgh. While enrolled at Pitt, Zack worked as a student teacher, designing lessons for 11th and 12th grade Language Arts students at Mount Lebanon High School, a nationally ranked Blue Ribbon School.
In the spring of 2011, Zack completed his teacher preparation program with endorsements in secondary English and Communications, and applied for a teaching position with the Department of Defense Education Activity (DODEA). By August of that year, he had relocated to Germany to teach English and video courses at the brand new Schweinfurt American High School. The Army’s Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) plan shuttered the high school in Schweinfurt after three years, but in that time Zack had a chance to shape school culture, create a nurturing learning environment, and build a school video program from scratch. He was awarded a Certificate of Appreciation by the garrison commander for his service to the well-being of Schweinfurt military dependents.
Following the closure at Schweinfurt, Zack transferred to Bitburg American High School for his final year of teaching overseas. During his four years in Germany, Zack taught English 7, 10, 11, 12 and AP Language and Composition, as well as several levels of middle and high school video production. In the summer of 2015 he was offered a position at the National Museum of the U.S. Army in Virginia and returned home to the U.S.. He now helps to design educational programs and exhibits for the brand new museum.
Zack’s work in North Philadelphia led him to another video production program at the Arts Academy at Benjamin Rush, another Philadelphia high school. There he worked as a teaching artist with the Big Picture Alliance. These early experiences teaching young people sparked an interest in education, which led him to pursue his teaching license at the University of Pittsburgh. While enrolled at Pitt, Zack worked as a student teacher, designing lessons for 11th and 12th grade Language Arts students at Mount Lebanon High School, a nationally ranked Blue Ribbon School.
In the spring of 2011, Zack completed his teacher preparation program with endorsements in secondary English and Communications, and applied for a teaching position with the Department of Defense Education Activity (DODEA). By August of that year, he had relocated to Germany to teach English and video courses at the brand new Schweinfurt American High School. The Army’s Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) plan shuttered the high school in Schweinfurt after three years, but in that time Zack had a chance to shape school culture, create a nurturing learning environment, and build a school video program from scratch. He was awarded a Certificate of Appreciation by the garrison commander for his service to the well-being of Schweinfurt military dependents.
Following the closure at Schweinfurt, Zack transferred to Bitburg American High School for his final year of teaching overseas. During his four years in Germany, Zack taught English 7, 10, 11, 12 and AP Language and Composition, as well as several levels of middle and high school video production. In the summer of 2015 he was offered a position at the National Museum of the U.S. Army in Virginia and returned home to the U.S.. He now helps to design educational programs and exhibits for the brand new museum.
Museum Educator
In July 2015, Zack joined the programs and education department at The National Museum of the United States Army. The museum, located on Fort Belvoir in Virginia, is slated to open in the coming year.
Zack's experience as a classroom teacher made him invaluable to the museum's programs and education department, where he took on myriad responsibilities. He collaborated with members of design teams, including project managers, engineers, fabricators, and other subcontractors to produce educational and interpretive programs for the museum. He consulted on ways to make Army-themed GSTEM learning engaging for middle and high school students, and beta tested interactive multimedia content that will be installed in the museum's Experiential Learning Center. He provided countless hours of editing and design feedback to programmers and designers, wrote promotional and social media content, and helped design the museum's website. He documented the construction of exhibit galleries and conservation of artifacts through photos and video, and produced scripts, storyboards and wrote voiceover copy for the museum's fly-through video tour, among many other duties.
Photos and other examples of Zack's work are not published here because the museum is not yet open, but a link to the museum's website is below.
Zack's experience as a classroom teacher made him invaluable to the museum's programs and education department, where he took on myriad responsibilities. He collaborated with members of design teams, including project managers, engineers, fabricators, and other subcontractors to produce educational and interpretive programs for the museum. He consulted on ways to make Army-themed GSTEM learning engaging for middle and high school students, and beta tested interactive multimedia content that will be installed in the museum's Experiential Learning Center. He provided countless hours of editing and design feedback to programmers and designers, wrote promotional and social media content, and helped design the museum's website. He documented the construction of exhibit galleries and conservation of artifacts through photos and video, and produced scripts, storyboards and wrote voiceover copy for the museum's fly-through video tour, among many other duties.
Photos and other examples of Zack's work are not published here because the museum is not yet open, but a link to the museum's website is below.
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Zack is an NAI Certified Interpretive Guide, a Google Level 1 Certified Educator and a member of the American Alliance of Museums.
Click here to leave this site and visit the National Museum of the U.S. Army
