Mr. Peneston

Jeff Peneston

Watch a video about my class that was made by NYSUT.

Everyone has a story...... and most of the interesting people that I know have lives that are like stories with multiple plots where each person plays more than one role at the same time. I am a dad, a husband, a program director of a non-profit children's camp, a teacher and lots of other things too. When I figure out what I want to be (when I grow up), it will be several things at the same time. Here is part of my story....... I grew up in Baldwinsville and my first jobs were as a strawberry picker (I lasted 2 days) and as a summer camp counselor. I enjoyed working at camp and helping other people learn about the outdoors so much that I have worked at camps ever since. Eventually, my wife Jan and I moved to Camp Talooli in Pennellville (10 miles North of LHS) and we have lived at Talooli for 31 years. Every summer, our daughter, Kelly and our son, Matthew work at camp with Jan (the camp Executive Director!) and I. As the program director, my job at Camp Talooli is to help train the staff and then to organize all of the wacky stuff we do at camp. Every Tuesday at camp I spend all day working with groups of campers, showing them how to cook over an open fire and how to bake in a traditional wood fired, outdoor stone oven. I also like to build the big evening campfires and to take campers on short canoe trips every Friday all summer.

I went to College at SUNY Plattsburgh for 4 years where I earned a degree and completed a double major in both Environmental Science and Physical Geography. I then spent 2 years at the University of Vermont and earned a Masters degree in Natural Resources Planning. I then moved back to Syracuse to attend the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry where I worked as a graduate research assistant for 3 years while working on my Ph.D. Finally, I realized that I wanted to teach high school (instead of college) and I earned my teacher education credits through SU's School of Education. I became a New York State certified earth science and secondary science teacher and I have taught 9th-12th grade earth science and science research at Liverpool High School since 1986. I was even named Teacher of the Year at LHX in 2000 and Liverpool School District Teacher of the Year for 2009-2010. On September 13, 2010 the NY State Education Department announced that they had chosen me to be the 2011 New York State Teacher of the Year. In May of 2011 I even got to meet President Obama in the Oval Office of the White House!For many years I was an active member of the Advisory Councils for the Upstate New York Junior Science and Humanities Symposium and the Greater Syracuse Scholastic Science Fair. I have taken student finalists to the ISEF competition 11 times since 1993 and I served on the Advisory Council for the ISEF from 1997 to 2002. I was very honored to be elected the Chairman of the ISEF Advisory Council for the 2001 fair held in San Jose, California.In 2000 Mr. Calderwood and I created the Expedition Earth Science program and we have been taking students on 7-10 expeditions a year ever since. In 2004 we won a $5000 first place award in a national competition sponsored by the NEC Corporation. The competition was a search for the "perfect science classroom" and we described the Expedition Earth Science program. We used the prize money to buy great science tools that we now use in our classrooms and on our expeditions. We have a rock cutting saw and polisher, a digital microscope that hooks directly to the laptop computers, and we even have a handheld sonar device so that we can measure the depth of water and so that we can explore the bottom of local lakes!On my own time......Over the years I have learned to repair almost anything that goes wrong with the 30 buildings at Camp Talooli. I eventually learned enough to build my own house which Jan and I did in 1990. I am a regular volunteer with the parent booster organization for the Drama Club at Phoenix High School. I also volunteer many hours each year for the American Camp Association (ACA). I help to train other camp professionals, I conduct accreditation visits of other camps and I attend State and National conferences with the ACA. In May of 2007, my daughter and I were certified as canoe instructors by the American Canoe Association. Two of my favorite places other than school and camp are the Adirondacks and the Virgin Islands National Park on St. John, USVI. Jan and I have been taking Matt and Kelly to St. John to camp and to snorkel the coral reefs for over 25 years.The summer of 2012 was a HUGE travel year for me. In June I traveled with a group of 40 educators from across the country as we toured schools and historic sites in China. In August, Jan and I celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary with a 2 week trip to the rainforests and and Great Barrier Reef of Australia!

In 2014, 2015 & 2016 we continue to lead groups of students and adults from around CNY on our annual spring break expeditions to explore the coral reefs of the US Virgin Islands National Park. And in Sept 2015 our son Mathew was married on the shore of the lake at Camp Talooli. He and Crystal met at camp over 10 years ago.

As we move into 2016 my classes are great and as I continue as the Director of the annual LHX Earth Science Symposium we have 113 honors students working hard. I am living-the-dream.