Hello, families! My name is Joshua Root, and I am your child's social studies and science teacher for their 4th-grade learning journey. I am thrilled for the opportunity to get to know each of you over the next nine months. I am a native and lifelong Austinite and attended EISD all the way from kindergarten through high school. My understanding of and desire to provide a top-notch education stems from the many, many, many amazing teachers I benefited from during those years.
This year marks my seventh as a Bridge Point classroom teacher, but my relationship with the school and community, both personally and professionally, reaches much further back. I grew up in the neighborhood, spending many hours playing in the woods (and later, construction site) that would become Bridge Point, and would have attended school here had I not already been in middle school when it opened. In fact, my brother was an original BPE 5th-grade student, my mom an original BPE 5th-grade teacher (she recently retired and now substitutes here), my father an original BPE parent volunteer, and my wife a former BPE campus aide (she now works from home for the foreign exchange student company EF, as well as selling children's and educational books for Usborne Publishing).
After Westlake High, I went on to attend UT, where I graduated with honors majoring in history and government and minoring in English. During college, I worked as an after-school childcare provider and spent summers as a camp counselor (where I met my wife!). After graduating, I worked first as an author and editor, and then as a TX Capitol tour guide and field-trip leader. While earning my teaching certification, I worked as a substitute teacher throughout EISD. I first taught for a year at the middle school level before coming "back" to Bridge Point. I later earned my master's degree in education from Sam Houston State University.
In my free time I love to read, swim & boat, spend time with my extended family, play and watch sports (especially tennis, basketball, and football), travel throughout the state, country, and world, and eat new and exciting foods. Oh, and best of all...
I'm a daddy! The vast majority of my free time is spend playing with my two kids. Claire is a five-year-old (five and a half, if you ask her) BPE Kindergartener. She loves animals, reading, playing, and being a big sister! Little brother Harrison is a whirlwind of a two year old whose current obsessions are trucks, Mickey Mouse, and alternately idolizing and terrorizing his parents and sister. Expect frequent pictures of and occasional visits from Mommy and kids.
This year marks my seventh as a Bridge Point classroom teacher, but my relationship with the school and community, both personally and professionally, reaches much further back. I grew up in the neighborhood, spending many hours playing in the woods (and later, construction site) that would become Bridge Point, and would have attended school here had I not already been in middle school when it opened. In fact, my brother was an original BPE 5th-grade student, my mom an original BPE 5th-grade teacher (she recently retired and now substitutes here), my father an original BPE parent volunteer, and my wife a former BPE campus aide (she now works from home for the foreign exchange student company EF, as well as selling children's and educational books for Usborne Publishing).
After Westlake High, I went on to attend UT, where I graduated with honors majoring in history and government and minoring in English. During college, I worked as an after-school childcare provider and spent summers as a camp counselor (where I met my wife!). After graduating, I worked first as an author and editor, and then as a TX Capitol tour guide and field-trip leader. While earning my teaching certification, I worked as a substitute teacher throughout EISD. I first taught for a year at the middle school level before coming "back" to Bridge Point. I later earned my master's degree in education from Sam Houston State University.
In my free time I love to read, swim & boat, spend time with my extended family, play and watch sports (especially tennis, basketball, and football), travel throughout the state, country, and world, and eat new and exciting foods. Oh, and best of all...
I'm a daddy! The vast majority of my free time is spend playing with my two kids. Claire is a five-year-old (five and a half, if you ask her) BPE Kindergartener. She loves animals, reading, playing, and being a big sister! Little brother Harrison is a whirlwind of a two year old whose current obsessions are trucks, Mickey Mouse, and alternately idolizing and terrorizing his parents and sister. Expect frequent pictures of and occasional visits from Mommy and kids.