His Story
Darryl Johnson has taught English at Smithville High School since 1995, with tenth-grade English, British literature and an elective called Literature of Social Change. His classroom runs on three rules: be punctual, respect the words and space of others, and “enjoy all the clear, pure water you want during class.” Students use clickers, an interactive whiteboard and laptops, but they also read from a “Relevancy Wall” of grammatical snafus, puns and literary references clipped from newspapers, hotel signs and gift cards.
He teaches with props and humor. He wears a red hunting hat for The Catcher in the Rye, brandishes a sword for a Shakespearean monologue, and greets students with a pun on a hallway whiteboard. He pairs novels with music, from “Fortunate Son” for a Vietnam War novel to “Bridge over Troubled Water” for Dead Man Walking, and he brings in guest speakers such as Vietnam veterans, prosecutors, a local priest and children of Holocaust survivors. He avoids worksheets and vocabulary lists.
A current student writes that in his room “I could finally breathe,” and that he is “a mentor, a listening ear; even a friend.” The board vice president, whose two children were his students, wrote: “I wish we had 100 more Darryl Johnson’s in our district.”
Beyond the Classroom
Johnson was Missouri’s Teacher of the Year for 2007. He is a National Board Certified Teacher (2002, renewed 2012), received the Missouri NEA Horace Mann Award in 2008, and was named Smithville High School’s Teacher of the Year eight times. He chaired his English department from 1998 to 2010 and teaches English methods as an adjunct at William Jewell College.
He serves as president of his local Missouri NEA chapter, has written for education journals, and has given 40 keynote addresses to professional organizations. His Literature of Social Change students may replace the final exam with three to five hours of volunteering, shadowing or interviewing at an organization tied to the literature. After a speaker described child welfare work, his class raised $200 for a county Easter egg hunt for children in the court system. He mentors for his alma mater, Northwest Missouri State University, and coaches his son’s baseball and basketball teams.
Philosophy Into Practice
Johnson holds his students and himself to “mutually high behavioral and academic expectations,” and he treats failure as “a necessary acquaintance” and “a powerful tool.” He says there “should never be a time when students question a teacher’s passion.”
His department uses data to teach reading: Smithville’s ACT reading scores have been at or above state and national levels for over a decade, and about 90 percent of students succeed in the school’s independent reading program. He adds a focus on media literacy, designing an anti-plagiarism program for incoming freshmen and teaching students to evaluate sources.
“My students and I hold each other to mutually high behavioral and academic expectations.”— Darryl Johnson
In His Own Words
“I believe I am strict but open, honest but sensitive and optimistic without being naive.”— Darryl Johnson
“”Failure” has an unfair reputation, as it is a necessary acquaintance and is a powerful tool.”— Darryl Johnson
“Humor is a strategy on which I rely heavily.”— Darryl Johnson
What Others Said
“Every student left his room at the end of the year with a better knowledge of respect creativity and what he could achieve.”— Former student, quoted in the nomination
“When I visit his classroom I find it very difficult to leave.”— George Curry, Ed.D., Superintendent, Smithville R-II School District
“Darryl Johnson is an Exceptional educator.”— William Becker, Vice President, Smithville Board of Education
“It takes courage to cover social change in a conservative community.”— Michael Gromacki, parent
“Darryl Johnson has “it” and is a great representative for all educators.”— Stephanie Robertson, colleague