I am an innovative and passionate English teacher seeking an opportunity to join a team of educators in a secondary public school. I love helping students develop a love of discourse and critical thinking, and I especially enjoy the antics and eccentricity of middle schoolers.I completed my student teaching in two different junior high schools, teaching grades 7th through 9th. During this time, I learned to appreciate the hard work that goes into developing creative new ways to engage students and increase their literacy. I involved myself in pioneering new methods of engaging students and enriching the ELA curriculum. Through a process called “gamification,” I effectively transformed how students interact with English content by infusing the traditional school model with grand thematic storylines and flexible student involvement. My students willingly completed hours of extra English work just for fun, for no grade or extra credit. As a result of this experimentation, I was invited to speak at the National Council of Teachers of English in Baltimore, November 2019. To preview the work I have done, you may take a tour of my class website, which contains story and game elements that encourage my students to become active participants as independent learners: https://jamesmehlagency.wordpress.com/. Currently, I have the opportunity at Compass Rose Academy to jump-start their first high school English program. I also have the responsibility of continuing their middle school and high school entrepreneurship courses. I have enjoyed the challenge of developing and troubleshooting a new school’s culture and procedures, and I am eagerly interested in joining an established school district.