The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be ignited. - Plutarch (c. 46 - 120 A.D.)
Me with Schnicky (c. 1992)
Kerry William Parsons, B.L.A., M.A.Ed.
I am 44 years old, and I have been married for 24 years. Frances and I live in beautiful Central Virginia, where we own Willowtree, a 29-acre organic homestead farm where we house our 13 dogs, 8 cats, 29 turtles, three aquaria, and one canary. Our property is a NWF-certified backyard habitat for wildlife, and a Monarch Waystation. Besides our pets, we had a flock of free-range chickens, ducks, four turkeys and six quail in a very large, fenced kitchen garden, but some critter (probably a raccoon) recently obliterated the flock over a matter of three weeks. We loved our poultry, their sounds, their ways, their beauty, and their eggs, and will definitely have poultry again, in an even larger garden with an even higher fence, as soon as we're able.
The only avocation I enjoy more than writing is reading, which I do ravenously on any subject that strikes my fancy (and those subjects are legion). I also enjoy drawing, organic gardening, watching movies, watching birds, listening to classical music, and visiting museums and natural preserves. I have a love of languages: I speak and write French fluently, and I spent three academic years at Mary Washington College in the Classics program, intensively studying and mastering Classical Latin (and some Classical Greek). I've kept up my Latin studies ever since.
I am the quintessential professional student, and I'm currently working on a Doctor of Education degree through the University of Phoenix (expected to be conferred August, 2016). I have been continuously in some sort of higher education since 1987, attending both traditional and online schools including (in no order) Mary Washington College, James Madison University, Mary Baldwin College, the American Academy of Nutrition, Piedmont Virginia Community College, and Excelsior College. I completed a week-long internship at The Johnson Institute in Minneapolis when I was considering becoming a drug abuse rehabilitation counselor. I've attended a number of national conferences around the country over the years on subjects ranging from adolescent substance abuse and psychodrama to education. I have nearly 100 contact hours concerning a range of subjects. The common denominator of all my varying professional aspirations has remained my desire to benefit the lives and education of young people. It is no accident that the bulk of my writing corpus would be considered in the young adult genre.
Professional Goals - Education
My dissertation is going to concern instruction and curriculum development for the gifted and talented student population. I want the centerpiece of my terminal-degree work to be a model I'm developing, the 21st Century Classroom, a gestalt of constructivist and inclusionist teaching modalities. In addition to teaching, once I have earned my terminal degree, I want to continue to research and hone my model as well, and I hope to be a part of writing legislation that concerns this student population.
Professional Goals - Writing
I am targeting 2014 as my year to break out. This year, I'm making a concerted push to sell a screenplay and a novel, and to see more of my short stories in print. I have created a blog on which I will document my pursuit of this goal.
I am 44 years old, and I have been married for 24 years. Frances and I live in beautiful Central Virginia, where we own Willowtree, a 29-acre organic homestead farm where we house our 13 dogs, 8 cats, 29 turtles, three aquaria, and one canary. Our property is a NWF-certified backyard habitat for wildlife, and a Monarch Waystation. Besides our pets, we had a flock of free-range chickens, ducks, four turkeys and six quail in a very large, fenced kitchen garden, but some critter (probably a raccoon) recently obliterated the flock over a matter of three weeks. We loved our poultry, their sounds, their ways, their beauty, and their eggs, and will definitely have poultry again, in an even larger garden with an even higher fence, as soon as we're able.
The only avocation I enjoy more than writing is reading, which I do ravenously on any subject that strikes my fancy (and those subjects are legion). I also enjoy drawing, organic gardening, watching movies, watching birds, listening to classical music, and visiting museums and natural preserves. I have a love of languages: I speak and write French fluently, and I spent three academic years at Mary Washington College in the Classics program, intensively studying and mastering Classical Latin (and some Classical Greek). I've kept up my Latin studies ever since.
I am the quintessential professional student, and I'm currently working on a Doctor of Education degree through the University of Phoenix (expected to be conferred August, 2016). I have been continuously in some sort of higher education since 1987, attending both traditional and online schools including (in no order) Mary Washington College, James Madison University, Mary Baldwin College, the American Academy of Nutrition, Piedmont Virginia Community College, and Excelsior College. I completed a week-long internship at The Johnson Institute in Minneapolis when I was considering becoming a drug abuse rehabilitation counselor. I've attended a number of national conferences around the country over the years on subjects ranging from adolescent substance abuse and psychodrama to education. I have nearly 100 contact hours concerning a range of subjects. The common denominator of all my varying professional aspirations has remained my desire to benefit the lives and education of young people. It is no accident that the bulk of my writing corpus would be considered in the young adult genre.
Professional Goals - Education
My dissertation is going to concern instruction and curriculum development for the gifted and talented student population. I want the centerpiece of my terminal-degree work to be a model I'm developing, the 21st Century Classroom, a gestalt of constructivist and inclusionist teaching modalities. In addition to teaching, once I have earned my terminal degree, I want to continue to research and hone my model as well, and I hope to be a part of writing legislation that concerns this student population.
Professional Goals - Writing
I am targeting 2014 as my year to break out. This year, I'm making a concerted push to sell a screenplay and a novel, and to see more of my short stories in print. I have created a blog on which I will document my pursuit of this goal.
A Few of My Favorite Things
Don't only practice your art, but force your way into its secrets, for it and knowledge can raise men to the divine. - Beethoven
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