About Me

Name: Michael Smith
Hometown: Peoria, IL

Hobbies: Music, Baseball, Reading, Traveling, Ballroom Dancing, Golf, Chess, Backgammon, Board Games
Music: All types
Movies: The Shawshank Redemption, The Godfather

My motto: You must be the change you want to see in the world. -- Ghandi

My name is Michael P. Smith, a.k.a. "Miguel Pablo Esmis" with my Spanish students over the years! I am an alumnus of Illinois State University in Normal, IL. I received my Undergraduate degree from ISU in1987, and I completed my Master's degree in the summer of 1996. I also earned a doctorate degree in Educational Administration and Foundations with the Peoria Doctoral Cohort. I have also created a web page for completing my doctoral dissertation. I completed the dissertation process in June of 2007 and graduated in December, 2007.

My major area of concentration for the classroom is in Spanish language and culture. I taught Spanish at Richwoods High School in Peoria, IL for 17 years from 1991 until June 2008, and I returned in 2013 again. I also worked in school administration starting in the summer of 2008. I spent three years as a Dean of students at Peoria High School from 2008 until June 2011, and I continue working for Peoria Public Schools. As you will see in the pages on this site, my interests are varied! While Spanish is a main focus of this site, you will still find links to many other topics and projects I'm interested in. I enjoy music, reading, chess, golf, computers, and most of all my family!

I also enjoy spending time with our dogs Buddy and Jovie. We have supported dog rescue for many years, starting with our greyhound Liberty.  We adopted her from a race track in July of 1998. You can also learn more about greyhound adoption online. Liberty crossed the rainbow bridge in 2005 and Valentino (a lab mutt hound, not a grey) joined us in December 2005, and was with us until 2017. We then adopted Buddy and Jovie, a pair of dachshund / terrier mixed puppies in 2018. What can I say, we LOVE our dogs! 

On TV, my all-time favorite show is The X-Files and I also love Star Trek. We also enjoy the movies and look forward to going with Brenda, or with our boys.