Tell us why you became a teacher

I became a teacher because I did not have someone to confide in as a child, and that weighed on me terribly. It wasn’t until I saw a therapist in college that I even learned the difference between my thoughts and my feelings. My goal as an educator is to help students grow holistically—learning how to effectively communicate with each other and with themselves.

Tell us about your most memorable teaching experience

I was subbing for Art. Everyone logged in and began working… except one student. Despite repeated redirections, they continued playing games. Eventually, he got frustrated with my prompting him to work and cleverly set me up for a practical joke. He asked me a simple question, “Mr. K, are you a scientist?” (Ironically, I teach science now.) I innocently responded, “No, why?” And he skillfully delivered the punch, “Well then get my life out from under your damn microscope!” Every head shot up…

What would you do with the $25,000?

Since I got the money for teaching, I would feel obligated to put some of it back into my kids. The best way for me to do that would be to purchase a few Virtual reality or augmented reality headsets so that students would be able to engage with science material in a multi-sensory capacity. Another portion of it would fund my travel—I am creating a Humanities curriculum that revolutionizes how we approach middle school social studies, and I could use the money to help collect interviews/stories.