Adam Bolts, Dunkerton High School

Position: English Teacher

Years Teaching: 5 years

Hobbies/Interests: Reading, writing, music, and the outdoors.

What do you enjoy most about teaching? I enjoy so much about my job it is difficult to really focus on just a few things. There are so many attributes that are interrelated, thread together to make teaching the profession for me. I guess you can say I love helping others in an environment of learning--one where I get to learn just as much as our students--and I get to do it in a community I love.

What do you find the most challenging about teaching? I do not find anything more or less challenging about teaching compared to anything else.

Best tip for new teachers: Learn to forgive yourself. You make a lot of mistakes the first year.

Best tip for career teachers: Remember: You got into this because of love and a desire to serve. Remind yourself of this daily. May it be your mantra.

Favorite piece of advice for students: The purpose of life is a life with purpose.

What being a Gold Star Teacher means to you: Growing up, I'll never forget the day our third grade teacher won the Gold Star Award for Outstanding Teaching. It meant so much to me that our teacher--one I very much liked--was chosen for this award. I'm just completely honored to receive the same award my third grade teacher received 30 years ago. It is a strange full circle feeling, one that reaffirms and encourages. I'll never forget being surprised in the middle of class by my wife, the Gold Star committee, and our building's administration. I was awkward and really didn't know what to say. This is rare for me and usually indicative of deep feelings and being humbled by experience. This was true at the moment and now. I am so very grateful.