These are some historic times. The kind of times children in the future will ask us about (when they're not looking at their devices anyway). How will you answer them? How do we immerse ourselves in and make the most of life? Books in general and fiction in particular have always given us an alternative world that can expand and complement the one we're in. As an English teacher, that is one of the things I offer. Enough of all that though.

The kid you see pictured here had no idea what the future had in store for him. He Graduated from Washburn High School in Minneapolis, and later the University of Minnesota. He got his MA in Creative Writing and Literature from Fairleigh Dickinson University. He has taught English and Theatre as a Peace Corps volunteer in Ulaan Baatar, Mongolia, North Branch, Minnesota, Istanbul, Turkey, Ramsey Jr. High and finally here at Johnson High School. He has taken field trips with his students to The International Schools in Brussels and Amsterdam and castles in Scotland, and he's been professionally developed in Stratford-on-Avon. Sitting in my 10th grade English class at Washburn, if someone had told me this would be my future, I never would have believed them. I sincerely believe each and every one one of my students has the same potential.

I love Johnson High School! It is an inspiring place. My wife is a teacher with St. Paul Public Schools (Eastern Heights) My two son, Sam, graduated from Como and played hockey for Johnson. My daughter, Martha, is a junior at Central, so I'm all in. I get passionate about our schools because they're so important and get frustrated by those who would criticize without first looking at all of the resources we have to offer our students and families. These are our schools, and they should shine as much as we all can! 

I run the Poetry Out Loud program here at Johnson. Here's a link to their website: Poetry Out Loud. Johnson senior, Alina Vang,  came in 2nd place in the state in 2019 and the Minnesota state champ that year went on to win the national competition (and $20,000!). 

I also coordinate and edit Johnson's artisitic and literary magazine, The Mirror. I am proud to mention The Mirror received a rating of "Excellent" from the National Council of Teachers of English for the 21/22 edition. That's the 7th consecutive year of being recognized for excellence by that national organization of English teachers! I gotta give a shout out to last year's editors:  Kelly Joachin Valdez and Ben Sheldon for having done such an amazing job of putting the magazine together on time. You two are AMAZING!!!

If you're a creative writer, share your stuff with me so the editors can consider it for publication! You can send it to jhsmirror@gmail.com

Schoology has become my "go to" site for finding most handouts and updates, so check there if that's what you're here for.

The best way to contact me is via my email: john.boyt@spps.org. My classroom phone is (651)744-3626, and I'm available between 8:30 and 9:45 in the morning during my prep. You may also call and ask to leave a voice mail message at (651)293-8890 - my voice mail extension is 1401. I am generally available after-school at the same numbers.

Try as hard as you can to find that place in your heart that will never stop improving yourself. It's not easy. That's normal. Let's just do this one little step at a time and be the you you can be proud of!

Thanks for stopping by.