A brilliant beacon of educational excellence

PHOTO: Jeff Bryant, english teacher

By Owen Guyer

BlueDevilHUB.com Staff–

Two decades ago, Jeff Bryant made a life-altering decision, choosing to change career paths and become a teacher, setting his course on a new educational adventure.

Now an English teacher at Holmes Junior High, Bryant knew he needed a change of direction in his life to discover a greater value. “Becoming a teacher was a way of making me feel a sense of positive purpose,” Bryant said. 

Bryant teaches English to both 7th and 9th grade students, even teaching his own class that he developed called English 9 Classics Approach, which focuses on philosophy and Greek mythology. However, as he puts it, “My primary job has to do with having a duty of care for young people.”

Bryant achieves this by creating a safe environment for learning, which in turn allows his students to succeed academically and “develop a positive sense of self.”

But getting his students to want to learn isn’t always so easy. Bryant strives for content knowledge from his students, which is a deep understanding of literacy and writing skills. “My classes use different means to do that, like the novels we read, the types of books we read and the assignments we do,” he said. 

According to Bryant, his personal approach to teaching is through Socratic seminars. This allows him to develop and assess a student’s learning. “The class takes on the form of an extended dialogue between teacher and students.” This dialogue usually involves questioning, arguments, and a cross examination of ideas. 

Instead of analyzing a story for its literary elements, Bryant uses literature as a vehicle to explore philosophical concepts, like ethics. By doing this, he allows his students to question their own morals, and create their own ideas, which “Is important to creating a fully functioning society.” 

Bryant’s ambition is to guide students in a positive direction, which is his own way of impacting the community. He strives, “To be a memory they’ll remember fondly. I want them [his students] to look back at their time with me and realize how far they’ve gone.”

Math teacher and colleague Kimiko Yamamoto said she was always “amazed” at the “depth and complexity the seventh graders showed in the topics of his [Bryant’s] class.” 

Bryant noted that his true goal is for his students to leave his classroom ready for success. “When my students’ dreams come true, so do mine,” he said.