Dan Marcus, now in his 35th year of teaching, retired from Douglas County Schools in June 2005, after a distinguished 28 year career there. He received the “Outstanding Teacher Award” during his tenure in Douglas County, as well as the “Board of Education Recognition Award” for his mentoring of at-risk students. While at Douglas County, Dan established a nationally acclaimed after school gifted program for students in technology (TAPS), and also established a partnership between Douglas County Schools and Douglas County Television for student led delivery of District programming. Dan is also a Professor of Classroom Technology Integration for Adams State College, for whom he has written and teaches over 40 graduate level Distance Learning courses for teachers nationwide. Dan earned his MA Degree from the University of Colorado at Denver, with undergraduate work completed at Stanford University and Metropolitan State College. Dan holds a highly-qualified CTE (Career and Technical Education) credential from the Colorado Department of Education (Secondary Math, Audio, Film and Video Technology, Journalism and Broadcasting).
Since retiring from Douglas County, Dan has taught part-time for Lewis Palmer Middle School in Monument, where he established and maintained the student led broadcast, film and video production program, LPTV. LPTV is Lewis Palmer Middle School's video production and film class. LPTV began as an after school club consisting of 9 students, in January 2006. Over the past several years, Dan has developed LPTV into a nationally acclaimed, comprehensive, career pathways program at LPMS. In the spring of 2009, LPTV received a letter of commendation from Colorado Congressman Ed Perlmutter, for their exemplary Veterans Oral History Project video, now archived in the American Folklore Center at the Library of Congress. LPTV’s mission is “preserving the oral histories of veterans in our community.”

Mr. Marcus is married and has one daughter, Mindy, who dances and teaches at the Colorado Ballet. His wife Deborah is a Pastor for Alabaster Vessels.

TEACHING PHILOSOPHY

"All students are unique. They come to class as a sum total of their experiences to date. It is the teacher’s responsibility to begin their instruction from where they are. All students learn at their own rate and in their own way. Lasting learning takes place only when the learner has constructed their own meaning based on their background knowledge and experience. A structured environment lets students know what is expected of them and builds character. Structure also provides for security for students and an opportunity to develop ownership of their learning and behavior."