Jon Zeljo

Jon Zeljo (pronounced ZELL-JOE) believes that the first priority at any school must be student learning. This goal may sound obvious, but as a teacher trainer based at the University of Colorado, where he worked with teachers from all over the country, Jon learned that sometimes schools go against John Dewey’s wise advice and instead do things the way they’ve always been done. To JZ, as students call him, schools should implement an engaging, meaningful, and relevant curriculum, and ensure that it is accessible and effective for all types of learners. He is encouraged by the recent resurrection of progressive education movement ideas in schools, with its emphasis on learning by doing, with service learning and experiential learning initiatives and programs such as Model UN and robotics.

Jon has been an educator for twenty-five years, as a history teacher, department chair, and program director in global education, starting east and moving west (Massachusetts, Washington, DC, Colorado, and, now, California). He knew from the time he was an undergraduate at Duke that he wanted to teach, and he earned his M.A. in East Asian Studies from University of Virginia specifically to teach students about this significant part of the world. After spending a decade working with teachers on curriculum development, he has returned to the school world and believes he’s found the dream position, that is, working with and supporting both students and teachers!