Occupation: I was the executive director of the Woodcock Nature Center in Wilton for 16 years, but when my wife, Kelly, went back to teaching fourth grade at Sandy Hook Elementary, I was afforded the ability to get back to what I love. I have started my own education consultancy called ReConnect, and I'm creating and implementing the curriculum for the Catherine Violet Hubbard Foundation and Animal Sanctuary. We hope to be a national model for experiential Next Generation Science Standard (NGSS) learning for the natural sciences that leads to an ethic of kindness and caring for the natural world. I've also been hired by the EverWonder Children's Museum to help create a "roadmap to success," in addition to creating new curriculum and exhibits. On the side, I also coach the 18-1 girls' volleyball team for the Connecticut Juniors Program, pour for Veracious Brewing on Friday nights, and work with a couple of local carpenter friends.

Family: I've been married to my wife, Kelly, for 20 years, and we have two children. Teddy is 14 and Zosia is 12. My mother, Marysia, also lives in Newtown.

Pets: We have two "foster failure" dogs named Patch and Scout.

How long have you lived in Newtown? We have lived at Honeypot Farms at the bottom of Brushy Hill Road for almost 20 years. While the 1795 farmhouse is perhaps needier than our two children, we wouldn't trade the view from our yard for anything.

What do you like to do in your free time? When I can, I love blacksmithing in our homemade forge in our barn, mountain biking on the local equestrian trails and at Orchard Hill Nature Center, gardening, hiking, traveling, scuba diving, fine dining/craft beers, camping, reading, watching Marvel movies, and going to museums.

Do you have a favorite author? I love anything and everything that Bill Bryson has ever written and believe that his A Short History of Nearly Everything should be mandatory reading for every college student. I love Douglas Adams for comedy, and I've read all the Harry Potter books several times over.

What is your favorite travel destination? I've been very fortunate to have spent a lot of my life traveling. I've been to 49 of 50 states, with Hawaii being the most beautiful/diverse, followed by Arizona. As a family, we try to go camping up in Acadia [National Park], Maine, almost every summer. My best friend and I backpacked across Europe when we graduated from high school and bicycled across Denmark when we were 15, so I've had some real freedoms that I'm truly grateful for.

Who has been the greatest influence in your life? My father, Jan Teraszkiewicz. He was that rare combination of being an extremely intelligent person, yet humble and kind, so that no one whom he spoke to ever felt intimidated nor discouraged from speaking their mind. He was a civil engineer who had his PhD by age 21 and later received his MBA to become a VP of the New York Power Authority. He was in charge of what was known as the "Mission Impossible" group, who had to use creativity, problem solving, and scientific thinking to create resolutions to the most complicated of issues involving the safety of our power generation. It was his love, encouraging nature, and soft-spoken intelligence that influenced me to both teach and try to do my best to make a positive difference in my community in any way that I can.

What is your favorite food? The salmon carpaccio at Toro, made by Kenny at the sushi bar. Also, my mom cooks so well, and so diversely, that I'd say it was between her Moo Shoo Pork, Shepherd's Pie, spaghetti sauce, but probably most of all, her barszcz (Polish beet soup) and Paszteciki (Polish pastry roll with cabbage and mushroom) at Christmas.

If you could spend the day with one person, who would you choose and why? My dad. He passed away March of my senior year in high school after losing a five-year battle with cancer. I'd do almost anything to have him back for one more day so that he could meet my wife, so his grandkids could have an idea of just how amazing he really was, and so that I could say, "I love you" and "thank you" one more time.

What is your favorite quote? My best friend, Kevin O'Donnell, said in his book of poetry, "I am a fool, for it was raining, and now I am thirsty." It sums up the importance of taking advantage of every opportunity and always finding the best of a situation, even when it seems that there may not be one.