Local gifted education teacher John Hunter spent the end of July at the annual EduStat conference, where he was a featured speaker alongside a former chief learning officer for the Central Intelligence Agency and the co-founder of JetBlue Airways. By the following week, the subject of local filmmaker Chris Farina’s documentary World Peace…and Other Fourth Grade Achievements was thinking of his return to the classroom.
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“Basically, when you’re a teacher, you’re a performance artist,” said Agnor-Hurt Elementary gifted teacher John Hunter, who traveled to promote a documentary about his classroom’s World Peace game. |
“I’ll be out of the building some next year. I don’t know how much,” said Hunter, an Albemarle County teacher, during an interview. “But I know we’re going to Norway for 10 days, and probably California a couple times, and New York maybe twice. There are probably things coming that I don’t know about yet.”
In February, Hunter may transport his legacy—in the form of his four-tiered World Peace board game—to his largest classroom yet. During the past month, C-VILLE heard several rumors that Hunter was selected to speak at the annual conference presented by a nonprofit organization called TED (Technology, Entertainment and Design). Previous TED speakers include Bono, Bill Gates and Valerie Plame Wilson, and the theme for the 2011 conference—right up Hunter’s alley, we say—is “The Rediscovery of Wonder.”
Asked about rumors that he would present at the TED2011 conference, “The Rediscovery of Wonder,” Hunter would neither confirm nor deny his involvement.
“I can say that if there’s anything that would occur, there would be an announcement in the fall,” says Hunter.
However, Hunter—who has a profile on the TED website, and shares that the event’s 1,500 tickets sold out a year in advance—is very familiar with the program and said the organization likes to “cultivate storytelling” as a way of sharing knowledge.
“And I understand that when [TED] cultivates a speaking relationship with a presenter, they work with that person over time, and develop a really beautiful story.”
Since the sold-out Charlottesville premiere of Farina’s film, Hunter, Farina and the World Peace game have traveled extensively to promote the film and Hunter’s teaching methods. In September, Hunter will speak at the Carter G. Woodson Institute for African-American Studies at UVA; the next month, he heads to Norway for the Bergen International Film Festival.
Regarding his travels, Hunter says Albemarle County schools have been “really gracious.
“Pam Moran, the superintendent, and my principal, Michele Del Gallo, both graciously allowed me the leave time as appropriate to spread the message that the curriculum embedded in the game—the universal objectives that all teachers strive for,” said Hunter.
And, before the school year resumes, Hunter plans to teach himself a few new tricks. A longtime synthesizer musician, Hunter says he recently rearranged his studio to nurture a new love: guitars.
“I’ve got eight guitars and four amplifiers,” said Hunter with a laugh. “Stop me, somebody!”
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