What is your favorite color?
“We’ll go with blue.”

Do you have any pets?
“Two cats, Mario and Luigi. We adopted them… from a litter that someone had dropped in front of a fire house.”

What’s your favorite hobby outside of school?
“I play softball on the weekends. I like bowling, too, everyone knows that. And, watching TV.”

When did you know you wanted to become a teacher? Did you have other careers in mind?
“When I first went to college, I thought I wanted to be a pharmacist… I changed my major a couple times. Growing up, I was in Boy Scouts, and I used to work at scout camp and taught merit badges, so one of my roommates was like, ‘why don’t you become a teacher?’ And… that’s what I wanted to do!

When did you decide to teach earth science?
“My degree is in biology, and so… I was [actually] doing my department chair a favor by covering their earth science class. Earth science is the only class I never took in high school, which is funny.”

What’s something you wish your students knew about you?
“I’m more understanding than students think I am.”

What advice would you give to your students about growing up?
“Always be open to new possibilities. You may have in mind what you think you’re gonna do, and when things start not working out that way you get all down… I thought I wanted to be a pharmacist, but I took a turn. I took two turns, actually!”

The youth yearn to know, Mr. Posniack, who is your favorite character in The Core?
“Oh, well of course it’s Dr. Joshua Keys. I mean, come on, he’s a geologist! He saved the world!”