AURORA, UNITED STATES: Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry (C) arrives at a town hall meeting at Rangeview High School in Aurora, Colorado, 17 September 2004. (Photo: LUKE FRAZZA/AFP via Getty Images)
When I started spending more time in Computer Science I spent a lot of time with another colleague in our department. Tom Fox had a programming background and taught our most advanced courses. I was lucky enough to take several professional development classes using Java when the AP CSA class moved from C++ to Java. He was a Navy veteran but still had a healthy skepticism for anything or anybody of authority. He had great stickers on his phone about “Big Brother.” He was a programmer and very focused. He does not suffer fools well but will do anything for you. I still have a pin he brought back for me from the Sturgis bike rally. It is one of my favorites. I will tell one little story about Tom that shows the adventures we have as a school. In 2004 we had a student reach out to John Kerry who was running for president at the time. His people decided to hold a rally at Rangeview. Obviously, there was increased security but we never realized it would rise to the level that it did. When the day came, there were police cars all around the building and the ones out back had their hoods open. That was how they could see if something had been tampered with. There were a couple of additional measures that we were not prepared for. Tom had a room that overlooked the back of the building. Also under his window was the roof of the first floor. Tom said he went into his room and started to open the window blinds like he did every day of school. When he opened the blinds and standing there facing the back of the building with his back turned toward the building was a sharpshooter with a high-powered rifle. Tom looked for a few seconds and that waving or knocking on the window was not a good idea. He quietly closed the blinds and didn’t have them opened for a few days. Tom rekindled my interest in Computer Science and led me to the position I now have had for many years.