Mr. Bennett

In the fall of 2011 I will be starting my fourth full year in J.T. Moore's 7^th and 8^th grade Gold School. I'm a native of Yarmouth, Maine where my family still resides. I graduated from West Virginia Wesleyan College with a Bachelor's Degree in English Literature in 2003. At Wesleyan I was a founding member of the Philosophy Club and Cycling teams as well as running track and cross country on the school’s varsity teams. I sought out leadership opportunities on and off the team, working as an assistant in the athletics office my final year. The highlight of my undergraduate experience was the opportunity to study abroad at Westminster College in Oxford, England and compete for Oxford University Cross Country.

Following graduation, I gained knowledge and experience in a wide range of fields. I taught wilderness survival, leadership and outdoor programs at Alldredge Academy in West Virginia. I moved back to Maine, and found balance working mornings at a shelter for homeless teenagers and coaching track and field for Bates College. I helped to coach Bates to a third place at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships in 2004. Our cross country teams also had their highest finishes of the decade. Upon leaving Bates after two years, I had helped to produce one All- American, two national qualifiers and numerous regional and all conference honors.

In the summer of 2005, I moved from Maine to the Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid, NY where I trained, studied and lived with winter and summer athletes from around the nation. It was an experience I will always carry with me, as for the first time, I lived and experienced the dedication of being a full-time athlete and coach.

In the fall of 2005 I accepted a coaching position at Belmont University with the men's cross country and track teams. I enrolled in graduate school and earned my Master's Degree in secondary English education in the spring of 2007. Among my accomplishments, the 2005 Belmont Bruins Cross Country team produced the highest team GPA in the NCAA (3.65) as well as having coached multiple Atlantic Sun champions. In the months before starting at J.T. Moore in 2008, I coached and trained with Reebok's ZAPFITNESS, an elite running team located in Boone, North Carolina.

At J.T. Moore I have taught both 7^th and 8^th grade language arts, coached boys track, sponsored student council and chaperoned student trips to Washington D.C. and Blue Man Group at TPAC. Since the 2009-2010 year, 97% of my students have achieved proficient or advanced on the TCAP writing exam (69/71). In the spring of 2011 I served on the grant writing committee, which was awarded $150,000 for our proposed technology upgrades at Moore.

I am an avid reader and adventurer. I spend my weekends biking, traveling, camping and enjoying the outdoors. In May of 2009 I married Erin Heslip, an attorney with Prochaska, Thompson, Quinn and Ferraro, in a ceremony at Vanderbilt. We recently purchased our first house in our adopted city and now have added two retired greyhounds to the family. I continue to be a competitive runner in local road races and help out with JT Moore track and field. With the continued support of Erin, will be running my fifth marathon in Chicago this fall.

Mr. Bennett can be reached at scott.bennett@mnps.org or 298-8095 Ext 1211.