Teacher Profile: Mr. James Kessler

             Born in the northern part of Indiana, Mr. Kessler lived on a farm with a father working as a high school math teacher. He attended high school playing the French horn and the mello-phone for his marching band in high school. Mr. Kessler transferred to a brand new boarding school in Indiana for gifted and talented students. As a science student, Mr. Kessler was interested in history until attending a class of a very intelligent history teacher. He was suddenly more attracted to history. It wasn’t until he went to university in New York that he decided to take a deeper look into history. Having read Kon-tiki by Thor Heyerdahl at a young age, he was also interested in travelling.

 
            Mr. Kessler transferred to Egypt to attend his third year in university. There, he had visited many historical sites, and gained new information and experiences. After his third year, he went to back to Cornell continue studying, and later to Illinois to get his masters degree. To become a qualified professor, what he had wanted to become, he went to Turkey to research for his PhD. During his course, Mr. Kessler temporarily took a break and taught English in Turkey. However, after teaching English, it had struck him that he would rather teach middle and high school students than college students, which led him to his decision not to complete his PhD.

            After returning to the States, Mr. Kessler applied for a job in a new private school in Wisconsin. With his contribution in building the school, he had taught history. He then moved to Washington D.C where he taught history for five years in a private school.

One day, while looking for a job overseas, he found an American school in Sudan. As he had written a paper about Kush in high school, used a novel written by a Sudanese author to teach, and attempt to travel to Sudan, it was finally a chance to know more about the history of Sudan. He applied for this school in Sudan, and got an immediate reply from the superintendent of the school. Mr. Kessler was accepted after an interview and has now taught in Khartoum American School for over a year.

 
            It was his dream to travel, get new ideas and information, and to teach students. Having travelled over 55 different countries and gaining a better understanding of history, Mr. Kessler is now teaching 5 different levels of classes, where he had taught only two levels in the past. It seems as though he has accomplished an astounding amount. We hope for the best for Mr. Kessler, with a curious personality, in learning and teaching what he likes best: history.

Andrew Kim