I am Johnathan Espino, a resident of Angier North Carolina for 22 years. Currently I am student at East Carolina, a member of the National Society of Leadership and Success as well as a member of the National Honor Society while obtaining my Masters in American and Public History.  My passion for history derives from my love of cultures of days past, discovering how the world has been created as we know it and in being able to share some of my passion for history as others have done for me.  This will aide me in spreading the passion I have for history to the minds of students who may not be entirely sure what their passion is.As a young boy history was always my favorite subject, even before I knew it was one. I would go walking through some local battlefields and wonder what was under my feet. At 10 rather than getting the coolest gaming system or toys, I got a brand new metal detector. As I grew, I helped my father in his construction business, within which we remodeled several houses that were a century or older. Finding the relics in the walls was amazing, and being able to see what was common in a different period and it be so tangible was amazing. Researching and hypothesizing why certain things were in the walls, my childhood and natural love for history are why I cannot wait to teach history to young minds willing and ready to learn.

The goal for teaching the future of the world is to ready them for life after school, whether it be directly into a job, college or a million other possibilities. Teaching the students history not only helps them understand where America grew from, but can help enforce the pride with which they work, as well as can help them glance at the future. Being able to talk about the past is just as important as discussing the future. Not making the same mistakes, but learning from them will help my future students create not only a better tomorrow, but also grow them into better people.

In order to effectively teach my students, I will focus on how they learn, and adapt to each class and person when possible. Not every class will learn the same, but being able to incorporate seminars, group sessions, but also attempt to place them in the time period by having them focus on factors that my have influenced their "character". Increase the reading and reading comprehensions of my students will be a big focus, as well as being able to present in front of class in order to grow the life long skills of comprehension, and public speaking. Working together to learn how to commit to true research as opposed to just searching online, and being able to analyze is another life lesson that I will lay upon my future students. In order to ensure my students are in fact learning, I will give them tests, but not traditional tests all the time. Being able to listen during a seminar, and pay attention to my students I can see how much they are learning and prospering. By repeatedly watching them gain confidence as they present in front of the class, I will see them learning it will be okay, and in turn they gain a life skill of being able to do so. In doing research projects, and watching what they are able to create and how well they can analyze the data they gain, I will see how they are learning. And in watching my students, and see them learning, as will I; learning what does and does not work, how to improve their education and better prepare them for the future, to keep them from ever being afraid to take that stage and present, to dig deep in a project and research, to lead a company by analyzing data and creating effective policies, and in not always having the answers of multiple choice tests, I will prepare them for life by having them come up with their own solutions, and be able to effectively back them up. I pledge to prepare them as best I can, and cannot wait to see them succeed more than anyone before.