"I want everyone to think of a number between one and ten," says Shipley's new Middle School math teacher to his sixth grade class. "With one being the easiest and ten being the hardest, how hard do you think yesterday's test was?"

Harris looks around the room and expresses disappointment that only a few students are holding up ten fingers. "You guys had a very challenging test," he assures his students, "and as a class you did very well, and I'm excited for you."

A first-year teacher, Harris decided to exchange a successful career as an entrepreneur and medical equipment salesperson for a teaching job in Shipley's Middle School late last spring. "Now I'm selling math instead of medical equipment," he says.

"Very tough. I want to be tough," he says of the kind of teacher he wants to be. "I want my students to understand that if they got an A, then they've hit a home run in my class. I think the majority of my students want that."

His biggest influence as a teacher was a professor who taught a course in ordinary differential equations at Villanova, where Harris graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering. "His tests were excruciatingly hard, but you could stay as long as you wanted to complete them. Sometimes I'd be in there until midnight."

The engineer-turned-math-teacher feels that by balancing challenging coursework with extra support, his students will achieve the greatest success. He's no stranger to kids. Harris has spent over ten years as a coach, first for his daughter's sports teams, and then as a boys' lacrosse coach in a local club league.

"It's overwhelming that I'm a part of it," confesses Harris about having joined the Shipley community. "The teachers are truly amazing. If I can get to their level, or even half of that level, I'd consider myself successful."