John Rodney graduated in 2004 from the University of Maine at Farmington with Bachelor of Science degrees in both English and Secondary Education. He began his career teaching at John Burroughs High School where he aided in the implementation of the College Preparatory English classes, working closely with Glendale Community College to ensure students were college ready in the area of English. For the past 9 years, John has been teaching at John Muir Middle School in Burbank, California as a 7th grade English teacher. For the past 4 years, he has also been the ASB/student leadership advisor. His philosophy for the classroom is one of inclusivity. While teaching the skills of reading, writing, punctuation and grammar, he strives to build empathy though the work the students do with their classmates and their interactions through the stories they read and the writing they produce.