Home

Who am I?:  Mr. Bruce's Perspective

Who am I?

    I came into teaching as a second career after leaving the active duty Navy in April, 2005.  As a Navy officer I served aboard the submarine USS Miami (SSN 755) as the Reactor Controls Assistant, responsible for the operation of the nuclear reactor systems, as the Assistant Weapons Officer, responsible for all submarine combat systems, and as the Sonar Officer, responsible for the submarine's sonar systems.  Following my tour on the submarine, I moved to California and served as the Ground Systems Department Deputy at the Naval Satellite Operations Center (NAVSOC).  At NAVSOC I owned the Navy's network of satellite control equipment, and flew 19 communication and research satellites in Low Earth, Medium Earth, and Geosynchronous Orbits.

    Prior to the Navy, I spent four years with my nose to the grindstone at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) earning a bachelors degree in mechanical engineering.  It was a painful experience, but I wouldn't change it for the world.

    I grew up in small-town Alaska.  I did everything I could inside and outside of school, and had a great time doing it.  During the summer, my family fished for sockeye salmon.  During the winter we played music and went to school.  I spent a year with my family living in small town Japan, where I attended public school.  Alaska was a great place to grow up.

Why am I Here?

    As a new teacher, people often ask me, "Why teach?"  I suppose different people have different reasons, but for me it is because I believe young people deserve the opportunity to be the best they can be, and it is my great privilege to provide them with that opportunity in some small way.

Why Physics?

    For me, physics is life.  But so is writing, speech, music, math, history, philosophy, politics, and every other discipline of intellectual and physical pursuit.  Life does not exist in a vacuum, and neither should a person's education.  In class I try to explore many of the relationships in the world around us, well beyond "the chapters covered in the book".  As a naval officer, I had to make decisions based on both my understanding of physical principles and social and ethical considerations.  It was this interrelationship between science, technology, and society that always kept me interested in my work.  I hope that my students see that what they do in this class will have application in many of the decisions they make in their lives, whether or not they pursue a technical vocation.

Pictures from places where I have spent my life:

                                                                    Ketchikan, Alaska.  My hometown.

        Nathan Jackson, an old family friend, carves his newest creation while tourists watch.

                                      Creek street in the summertime.  Notice the lack of cars.

                                                                                                                Bald iggles.

                                                         One of my favorite views of our planet.

     Da bears.  This picture must have been taken on the mainland.  We only have blackies in Ketchikan.

Though he is using a saw with a dinky 24" bar, this gives you an idea of what some of us call fun.

                                                     And this is what the others of us do for fun: power trolling

        The town of Kanayama, Japan.  I attended Kanayama Elementary and Kanayama Junior High Schools many years ago.

                                     "And now, for your halftime entertainment pleasure... the MIT Marching Band!"

MIT graduation.

                                                                                                                                              My boat.

                                                    Driving the boat.

                                                                                     Cruisin the deep blue sea.

    Lieutenant Bruce, Command Duty Officer, hard at work commanding satellites.

                                                          My 60' satellite control antenna at the Laguna Peak facility.

Goin' fishin' in the Tongass Narrows.