James Maxwell Email & Phone Number

Since before I graduated high school, I have been passionate about serving and teaching young people. As a youth group leader for over a decade, I witnessed the power of compassion to transform lives. For 13 years as a swim instructor, I watched sparks of self-efficacy in the eyes of children encountering challenges and mastering new skills. Now I work with inner city elementary school students who have severe emotional disturbances. In this arena, my appreciation for the value of kindness and the instilling of a positive self-concept in every individual has been magnified. I have had countless people in my life, including many teachers, whose love, wisdom and effort molded me into the person I am today. I relish every opportunity I have to be a similar positive influence in the lives of others.Beyond this, my eyes are open to beauty, pain and to the power of ideas. I cherish the fact that human beings are communicators: capable of valuing, reasoning and sharing. The written word is dynamic and essential. It breaks through the veneer of pleasure and distraction into matters of purpose and personhood. Encountering literature and mastering self-expression enables people to understand and carve out their own particular path and perspective as sharers of the universal human experience. For this reason, I am passionate about promoting clarity, precision and aesthetics in communication.People are creatures of tremendous value and purpose. A good Language Arts teacher serves as an important catalyst in students’ discovery of this fact about themselves and others. I look forward to the opportunity to play my part in myriads of such changes.