Meet Mr. Bonner

How long have you been a teacher?

I started teaching in a classroom back in 2004 as a substitute teacher in my home town of Zionsville, IN.  I later subbed at Carmel, Wayne Township, The Sycamore School, and Lebanon.  Substitute teachers only get paid for the days they work, so I was on-call at a bunch of school districts to be sure I could work every day.  After my first year of subbing, I knew I wanted to be a real teacher, so I went back to college to get my degree.

I did my first student teaching experience in a gifted 3rd grade classroom at Mary Castle Elementary in Lawrence Township the spring of 2007.  I did my second student teaching experience in 7th grade science at John Marshall in IPS the fall of 2007.

I got my first teaching job at Traders Point Christian Academy the fall of 2008.  I taught middle school science and high school math.  I also started a chess club, a science club, a Science Olympiad team, a TARC team, developed a gifted & talented program, served as the staff photographer, introduced the school to the Moodle online classroom software, created a computer lab in the science room, and served as the technology coordinator.

I taught  at The Independence Academy, a private school in Indianapolis for students with high functioning autism, from 2009 through 2012.  My main job was teaching 5th and 6th grades, but I also taught high school science, music, life skills, photography, chess, and soccer.  As the technology coordinator, I built a reliable computer network from the ground up, refurbished thirty six donated laptops, and introduced the school to Google Apps.  In 2012

I began working at Todd Academy primarily teaching the 3rd/4th grade class, but also teaching middle school mechanical science, starting and coaching a chess team, starting and coaching a high school VEX Robotics team, and serving as the technology coordinator.

My first year of student teaching

Why did you decide to teach kids gifted kids?

Back in my substitute teaching days I could be called to teach any subject in any grade.  I taught everything from kindergarten music to high school Japanese.  I truly enjoyed each experience, but my favorite was covering a gifted 4th/5th grade class.  The regular teacher was at a conference, so I was with this class for an entire week.  I had never taught gifted before, so these students definitely gave me a good challenge.  By the end of the week I was loving it!

I later spent two summers at the GERI Summer Residential Camp at Purdue as a counselor and teacher.  In 2007 I joined Mensa and became the Gifted Youth Coordinator for Central Indiana.  Being gifted myself, I have a heart for these kids, especially the twice-exceptional ones.  A lot of people assume that being gifted is easy, but I have yet to meet a gifted person who has had an easy time of it.  The challenge is great, but so are the rewards.

My first year at GERI

Where did you grow up?

I lived on a small farm near Whitestown, Indiana.  It was literally right in the middle of a bunch of corn fields.  We had a few horses, dogs, cats, rabbits, and fish.  I went to Perry Worth Elementary School, then transferred to Carmel until I graduated high school.  I moved to Terre Haute, Indiana for five years to go to college, then moved back.  I now live in Zionsville.

Enjoying baby goats at the family farm.

Where did you go to college?

I got my first two degrees of Electrical Engineering and Computer Engineering from Indiana State University.  After that, I worked for a few years.

I got my third degree in Elementary Education from Indiana University (through IUPUI).  My fourth degree was a Master’s level degree from Purdue in Gifted & Talented Educational Psychology.  Finally, my fifth degree was from Indiana University in Secondary Physical Science (chemistry & physics) Education

Did you ever use your engineering degrees?

I’ve done a lot with my engineering degrees, and I continue to do so.  One of my first jobs after college was working at a Compaq computer factory in the middle of the night.  I was just out of college, and it was the only job available.  I went in to work at midnight and got home around sunrise.  I later got a job at IHETS which is a company that provides Internet and satellite connections to Indiana K-12 schools, universities, and libraries.  It was my job to monitor the Internet for the whole state and be the first responder when a school like Purdue lost their main Internet connection.  Things got crazy during a big ice storm one winter when half of the state lost Internet.  It was high pressure, but I loved it.

The best engineering job I ever had was writing embedded software for a brand new blood glucose meter for diabetic people.  That was a LOT of fun!  I was able to use a lot of creativity in that job.  One of my favorite features of the glucose meter was giving the device the ability to email the doctor a history of the blood levels for the patient.  That was a brand new idea at the time.

I still use skills I learned from my engineering degrees today.   During the summer months when I’m not at school, I sometimes do freelance engineering and IT work.  One of the jobs I’ve done recently was upgrading the ATM cash machines for Chase Bank all over Indianapolis.  There are probably 50 banks in Indianapolis that I visited.  I’ve installed a lot of cash register computers and servers at stores in malls.  It’s been interesting work.

What hobbies do you enjoy?

I have a lot of hobbies including photography, being outdoors, mountain biking on challenging trails, jogging, scuba diving, RC planes, music (I play instruments such as bass guitar, trombone, piano, drums, and many others), watching sci-fi movies, learning as much as I can about the world around us, and building stuff.

Most of my time outside of school is spent serving other people.  I’ve been a jr high youth leader at College Park Church for many years.  I lead a small group every Wednesday night after school.  I’m also involved with Mensa.  I direct the Central Indiana Mensa Family Program.  In 2010 American Mensa presented me with the Gifted Children Program Award.  They only give one of those out per year for the entire country.  I was thrilled!

Are you married and do you have any kids?

I married my best friend, Carin, in June of 2012.  Being married to Carin has been one of the best experiences of my life!  Some day we’d like to have kids, but we aren’t in any hurry.  Carin is a counselor and helps people who are having a hard time with life.  It’s hard work, but she’s really good at it.