Teacher Name: Brad Kerkman
Grade/Subject: Physical Education/Health
Tell us a little about yourself – your hometown, education, hobbies!
I am from Algonquin, Illinois. Went to Dundee-Crown High School ’07 Grad, Graduated from University of Wisconsin-Platteville in December 2013. Some of my hobbies are coaching, boating, golfing, and traveling.
What do you love about teaching for District 428?
The staff has been very welcoming and helpful from the beginning. A lot of different avenues to go to for help. The students are tremendous. A lot of diversity in the student body making teaching a lot of fun and learning from the kids.
How do you uniquely engage your students to embrace what you’re teaching and generate excitement for learning?
It’s important as the teacher to make the units exciting and different. I try to vary my units and games so the students aren’t doing the same thing for a whole unit. Making different rules to games to allow for differentiation is something that works very well. Units can get stale and students learning stops when that happens. I keep it fresh by changing activities within the units while still having the same games being played.
What is the #1 reason why you are proud to be a teacher in DeKalb Schools?
The #1 reason I am proud to be a teacher in DeKalb is because of the pride that the students, staff, coaches, and community have in the school. It really seems to be a community with very common goals and everybody supports each other to achieve their goals.
What piece of advice would you give your students as they grow beyond DeKalb High School?
Embrace your teachers, coaches and other supporting staff in the buildings. We are all here to help them grow as individuals and help them achieve their goals. We all base our success of the success the students have. When they achieve, we all achieve.