The stories of our lives. These Kit Adams invites students to share; as a poet and teacher he asks students to embrace life deeply.
For more than 20 years, Mr. Adams has helped young people discover and express their own, unique voices. Instead of simply “teaching” writing, he guides his students past the impediments of self-doubt and self-consciousness. The goal is to help them recognize the inherent worth of their individual experiences and insights. When expressed with clarity and conviction, these insights add to the richness of everyone’s life.
In a corollary way, there is no expression of one’s insights without a careful hearing of the ideas and ideals of others. In Mr. Adams’ classes, students follow the advice of Mortimer Adler to enter into a conversation with the great writers of prose and poetry. They discover the person behind the words, and the ideas that animate writing. This conversation is what learners seek; they want to meet a greater mind than their own, they want the rigor of discussion, and they understand that rigor in learning includes difficulty, challenge, and uncomfortableness. Adler describes this as lifting ourselves up to the higher expectations we gain of our abilities.
Mr. Adams is a National Board Certified Teacher who has taught creative writing, regular and honors English, as well as remedial and intensive reading. He has made presentations for the Florida Reading Council and at Space Coast Writers Guild and Scribblers meetings. He offers frequent teacher training workshops for his school district. He has also received several awards for his poetry.
Prior to entering the classroom, Mr. Adams used his Basic and Standard Banking Certificates from Rockhurst College to support his work in the fields of banking and marketing. He earned his BA in English from Florida Atlantic University and his teaching certification from Rollins College. He mentors with the National Writing project at the University of Central Florida and is ESOL certified.
