Basic information about your teacher
Hello...I'm Mr. Bourgeois, or Mr. B, as most students tend to refer to me. I am a Career and Technical Education (CTE) teacher at Durham School of the Arts, where I have now taught for almost two decades. Outside of my teaching responsibilities, I serve as the school's CTE department chair and advisor for the tabletop game club.
Prior to teaching, I was employed by a small, nonprofit research organization managing their network, creating custom applications and building databases as well as conducting scientific research. I served in the U.S. Air Force where I was stationed at Ramstein AB in Germany as an F-16 Avionics Specialist. I completed my Bachelor of Arts at Franklin Pierce College (now University) in Rindge, NH where I majored in Psychology and minored in Computer Science. After a career change to education, I furthered my education, earning a Master of Arts degree in Business Education from East Carolina University. I am always interested in growing as an educator and to that degree, I was a cohort in the Kenan Fellows Program during the 2015-16 school year where I participated in an internship working with nanotechnology at the NC State ASSIST Center.
One of the highlights of my education career has been to lead a team of highly motivated and advanced students who undertook a project of developing a virtual reality model of the abandoned Wagram Correctional Facility for Growing Change, a nonprofit organization located in Laurinburg, NC. The students had the opportunity to work with a local virtual reality company, Lucid Dream. The project also brought me to the attention of Luminary Labs, who were in charge of running the EdSim Challenge for the U.S. Department of Education. Through them, I was invited to first serve as a reviewer of submissions followed by assisting in mentoring the selected finalists.
Over the years, I have taught a wide variety of CTE curriculum in both business education and the digital arts. Currently, my focus is the Game Art & Design concentration, which is an area that I have been interested in since childhood. As a result of my passion for games as well as education, I was invited by the NC Department of Public Instruction (DPI) to assist with the revamping and restructuring of the courses in the concentration. This year, we will be finishing up the course updates with Advanced Game Design.
The digital art studios I currently teach include:
I am also heavily involved with promoting the Adobe CC Suite as both an Adobe Campus Leader (ACL) and an Adobe Education Trainer (AET). I am also a member of Adobe's AET Leadership Committee. Currently, I hold professional certifications in Photoshop, Illustrator and Premiere Pro. To be recognized by Adobe, I completed several of their online courses through the Adobe Education Exchange. These are amazing, free courses taught by skilled professionals that anyone to take. So, if you are interested in their software, click the link and sign up for a couple!
Outside of school, I am married and have two grown children plus a granddaughter. Our daughter graduated from DSA in 2009, attended the Art Institute of Raleigh-Durham and is employed locally as a graphic designer. Our son attended Randolph Community College and is employed as an assistant photographer in High Point. I guess you can say digital arts runs deep in our family!
If you have any questions about me or my classes that are not answered on this site, feel free to contact me using the links below. While you can always call my classroom at 560-3926 ext. 23489, please understand that I respond to email quicker and it is the preferred method of contact.
Prior to teaching, I was employed by a small, nonprofit research organization managing their network, creating custom applications and building databases as well as conducting scientific research. I served in the U.S. Air Force where I was stationed at Ramstein AB in Germany as an F-16 Avionics Specialist. I completed my Bachelor of Arts at Franklin Pierce College (now University) in Rindge, NH where I majored in Psychology and minored in Computer Science. After a career change to education, I furthered my education, earning a Master of Arts degree in Business Education from East Carolina University. I am always interested in growing as an educator and to that degree, I was a cohort in the Kenan Fellows Program during the 2015-16 school year where I participated in an internship working with nanotechnology at the NC State ASSIST Center.
One of the highlights of my education career has been to lead a team of highly motivated and advanced students who undertook a project of developing a virtual reality model of the abandoned Wagram Correctional Facility for Growing Change, a nonprofit organization located in Laurinburg, NC. The students had the opportunity to work with a local virtual reality company, Lucid Dream. The project also brought me to the attention of Luminary Labs, who were in charge of running the EdSim Challenge for the U.S. Department of Education. Through them, I was invited to first serve as a reviewer of submissions followed by assisting in mentoring the selected finalists.
Over the years, I have taught a wide variety of CTE curriculum in both business education and the digital arts. Currently, my focus is the Game Art & Design concentration, which is an area that I have been interested in since childhood. As a result of my passion for games as well as education, I was invited by the NC Department of Public Instruction (DPI) to assist with the revamping and restructuring of the courses in the concentration. This year, we will be finishing up the course updates with Advanced Game Design.
The digital art studios I currently teach include:
- Exploring Digital Arts (middle school)
- Digital Design & Animation
- Digital Design & Animation II
- Game Art & Design
- Advanced Game Design
I am also heavily involved with promoting the Adobe CC Suite as both an Adobe Campus Leader (ACL) and an Adobe Education Trainer (AET). I am also a member of Adobe's AET Leadership Committee. Currently, I hold professional certifications in Photoshop, Illustrator and Premiere Pro. To be recognized by Adobe, I completed several of their online courses through the Adobe Education Exchange. These are amazing, free courses taught by skilled professionals that anyone to take. So, if you are interested in their software, click the link and sign up for a couple!
Outside of school, I am married and have two grown children plus a granddaughter. Our daughter graduated from DSA in 2009, attended the Art Institute of Raleigh-Durham and is employed locally as a graphic designer. Our son attended Randolph Community College and is employed as an assistant photographer in High Point. I guess you can say digital arts runs deep in our family!
If you have any questions about me or my classes that are not answered on this site, feel free to contact me using the links below. While you can always call my classroom at 560-3926 ext. 23489, please understand that I respond to email quicker and it is the preferred method of contact.
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