Title: Full-Time Faculty, School of Firearms Technology
Highest degree and school: BA, Human Communication, Arizona State University
Teaching at SDI since: 2020
Scott Parr teaches the Firearms Finishes and Engraving and the Sights, Optics, and Accuracy courses for the School of Firearms Technology. He retired from the Chandler Police Department in Arizona in 2020 with over forty years in law enforcement, where his entire career centered around training and instruction. Scott was certified to teach all topics in the Arizona P.O.S.T. catalog, which include pistol and rifle. He is a certified Glock and AR-15/M4/M16 armorer, has experience armoring 1911 pistols, and maintained the magnificent M1 Garand rifles for the Honor Guard team. A veteran of the US Air Force, in 2010 Scott graduated Summa Cum Laude with a BS in Human Communication from Arizona State University. Now living in Florida, in addition to teaching at SDI Scott continues to teach firearms as an NRA instructor.
Teaching has been the central part of Scott’s career, and as he puts it, “firearms have always been a passion for me. When I learned about the opportunity to teach at SDI, it seemed a perfect transition as I approached retirement from Law Enforcement.” Asked his favorite part about teaching, he shared that helping someone to master a skill or concept has always been something he finds incredibly satisfying. As he mentions in his welcome letter to students, “Benjamin Franklin once said, ‘An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.’ This is very sage advice from a true renaissance man and one of our nation’s founding fathers. You are investing monetary resources into your education here at SDI, but an investment of money alone will gain you nothing. You must truly invest yourself, your time, and your efforts into your studies to reap the interest that Franklin spoke of. You must do the work, but know that I am always here if you need me.”
An avid kayaker and snorkeler, Scott’s idea of a perfect day would start at the ocean with his wife and their dog Tassy at dawn, followed by some range-time with pistol, shotgun, and rifles, biking mountain trails in the afternoon and wrapping up the evening over dinner and socializing with family and friends. Assuming time was not a factor, Scott would want to learn more about history: “the past is fascinating to me, and we can learn so much from those who came before us.”