New science teacher previously majored in trombone performance

JagWire: What are you most excited about your new job?

Neil McLeod: [Mill Valley] is way closer to where I live, so I save myself an hour or more of commute; that’s like a huge thing. I am also excited for the robotics program and getting involved. I was involved in robotics in Spring HIll, but it was very fledgeling and it was just barely getting off the ground. Here, it’s [an established program], so I am excited to be involved in that.

JW: What are you looking forward to being at Mill Valley?

NM: I graduated from here in 2005, so it’s like coming home; I spent my 15 years out in the waste lands trying to make my way, and now I am back here. 

JW: What led you to a career in teaching?

NM: I went to college originally as a trombone performance major and kind of did my thing there. Then, I decided to switch to chemistry because it was cool and I didn’t quite know what I wanted to do. I kind of bounced around between things and fiddled with things like pre-med, pre-pharmacy and engineering. I just kind of bounced around until I started teaching music lessons and then realized teaching was a lot of fun, so then I became a teacher.

JW: What college did you attend?

NM: I did my undergraduate at Brigham University in Provo, Utah. Then, I did my graduate degree at [Pittsburg State University].

JW: What is something unique about yourself?

NM: I am pretty techy and pretty handy; I built my own 3D printer. I [printed] 3D periodic tables on the 3D printer I built.