My family and I moved to Wichita Falls 15 years ago, and did not have any family here. Over that time, families from Rider and this city have become our family and this has become our home.

My wife and I have literally watched our kids grow up at Rider High School. During my 15 years here, Rider has continued to be the flagship high school for this region and our school district thanks to tremendous educators and students.

Rider kids have competed at the state level in fine arts, athletics, academics and career tech, displaying consistent high performances, and are recognized often across Texas as some of the best year after year. They earn millions of dollars in college scholarships, have gone on to start successful businesses and families and have been prepared to excel in their next stages of life.

Rider just flat out has the best students in the state of Texas – our kids are special. Just like our staff, they are gritty, hard-working, caring and hold our entire school to a standard excellence that sets us apart.

I love our kids, and one of the best parts of my job is getting to know them and having a front-row seat to watch them perform and compete for our school. It has been the honor of my lifetime to serve the students, staff and school community of Rider in this role.

For me, Rider has and will always be about great people. We have an incredible staff of educators and difference-makers.

It is pretty special when you can genuinely say that you love coming to work every day, and it is because I love the people I work with. We have been fortunate over the years to work alongside some of the most dedicated teachers, coaches and directors.

Our people at Rider work tirelessly caring for kids, striving with excellence to ensure our students achieve at high levels and have a positive experience. We have had a ton of fun together over the years and will carry with us fond memories and enough laughs to fill a room.

My own favorite memories are too numerous to count, but all center around being with our students and staff. There’s been a lot of joy and happy tears cheering on our students, whether it was a UIL academic state champion or an ACAP or Lip Sync performance or celebrating big playoff wins in football, basketball, soccer, volleyball, tennis and baseball. Or watching the Pride of the Raiders represent our school.

I will definitely leave this place with a heart full of memories and lifetime of great relationships.

To all of the Rider Raiders, both past and present, thank you for living out our motto “One Family, One Team.” It is so real, and something that will never leave us. Ride on honorable ones!