My phenomenal wall by Peter DeRousse

Work

pderouss — 2019-05-21 14:55:35 UTC

Both of my parents worked and both grew up after the Great Depression, so a strong work ethic was instilled in me, such that I had my first job at age 11. I have done all kinds of jobs, including being a machinist (depicted above). I take pride in a job well done.

Education

pderouss — 2019-05-21 14:59:42 UTC

Early on I realized that life was more complex than most made it out to be, so this led me to want to learn as much as possible. I earned a Ph.D. from Loyola in 2003 in Ancient Greek and Latin, with an emphasis in Roman Historiography. I also encouraged my wife to attend Law School and she has become a noted Corporate Restructuring attorney. I have served on a school board (since 2013) in my neighborhood. I love to teach myself how to do new things, like build electronic gadgets.

Geography / Travel

pderouss — 2019-05-21 15:01:20 UTC

Growing up we hosted exchange students and I became an exchange student, so to this day, I love to travel and have been to many foreign countries. This is also why I teach foreign language. I also lead trips to foreign countries every other year in D86, stay tuned for announcement for the next trip to Italy in 2025 or 2026

Generation X

pderouss — 2019-05-21 15:03:09 UTC

My generation was called 'lazy' when I was growing up and so labeled X (as if irrelevant). We went on to create the internet. I grew up in Silicon Valley, but am very ambivalent about technology in general. I struggle to find anything educational about AI and am concerned that it may take away people's desire to express themselves.

Music

pderouss — 2019-05-21 15:14:01 UTC

I have learned to appreciate all kinds of music - truly (except pop-county) - and I atend live music shows regularly. I own over 3TB of high-resolution files, 1000 CDs and 300 vinyl records. I still buy them, because they sound superior to streamed or compressed mp3 downloads (Don't get me started...). I own all Radiohead on vinyl, and some very rare releases (It's a disease).

Language

pderouss — 2019-05-21 15:18:12 UTC

English is my first language, but because I love to travel and teach Latin, I have various abilities in Ancient Greek, French, German, Italian and Spanish. Knowing only 1 language means you have fewer opportunities in life, or to put it another way: You don't know what you don't know - a scary thought. I teach Latin, because it opens doors for students academically.

Family

pderouss — 2019-05-21 15:21:31 UTC

I am married and have three daughters, three brothers and two sisters. Family is where I derive my strength and a sense of connectedness to my future. My daughter Georgia (20) goes to MSU (Michigan), Sunny (18) atends Reed College in Oregon, and Eleanor (11) is in 7th grade.

Race / Ethnicity

pderouss — 2019-05-21 18:00:47 UTC

I'm a white, male, hetero American. That affords me opportunities that others do not get in my culture. I find that both odd and offensive. Race and ethnicity are constantly misunderstood in my culture. One thing I often think of is how, as a teacher, I am put in the position of opening doors for students and I very much appreciate the ooprtunity to do so for hard working students.