Name: Justin Bonner

School: Upper Merion Area Middle School

Subject: Leadership

Room: C114

Email: jbonner@umasd.org

Welcome to my web page. I am excited to begin my first year teaching at Upper Merion Area Middle School! This year I will be teaching a new Leadership course for all students in grades 5 through 8, and I could not be more excited to get started.

I have spent the last four years as a high school counselor at Pennsylvania Leadership Charter School, an online blended learning program for students across the state of Pennsylvania. During this time I worked with students in grades 9 through 12. I enjoyed working with high school students, assisting them with career and college preparation, study skills, college applications, and much more. Before starting at PALCS, I worked as an elementary school counselor for two years in the Philadelphia School District.

Sports have always been a big part of my life. After graduating from high school in 2004, I accepted an athletic scholarship for Swimming and Diving to the University of Wisconsin-Madison. I spent two amazing years competing at Wisconsin before ultimatley making the decision to transfer back home to Pennsylvania. I continued my academic and athletic career at Penn State, where I graduated in 2009 with a double major in Sociology and Crime Law and Justice.

Because I knew that I wanted to be a school counselor, I immediately pursued my Master's degree in School Counseling. I graduated from West Chester University in 2011.

I have stayed active in athletics as a coach, and I look forward to coaching both the Men's and Women's Diving teams this year in addition to the Varsity Water Polo team at the high school. Go Vikings!

I have a passion for education and I am very much looking forward to using the skills that I have learned as a school counselor in the classroom! I am excited to help my students master the skills that wil help them become leaders in their communities. In addition to becoming life-long learners, I want my students to have a growth mindset in all the things they do. I believe having a strong toolkit of self regulation, resiliency, and success skills will enable students to tackle anything that comes their way! 

Just a little bit more about me: My passions in life are my family, dogs, and the Flyers and Eagles. The photo above is of my wife and I at a wedding last year. We both love life and love to get out and about. We have the best dog in the world, Penny. She is a rescue puppy from Alabama. We found her two years ago and just knew we couldn't let her go. She is a Dachsund-Jack Russell mix with a little bit of beagle thrown in as well.