Walking into English teacher Kent Kersten’s classroom, students are met with a pleasant ambiance. He set up his record player with all his favorite tunes so his classroom creates a calm space for studying the English language. Kersten feels that this way, he can better connect with his students.
Kersten grew up in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where he attended school up until his junior year. His family moved to Orlando in his senior year, where he finished his high school education. Kersten then attended the University of Florida, where he pursued his love of English literature along with learning many other languages.
“I have always enjoyed the written word,” Kersten said “Whether it’s discussing, reading a poem or a piece of fiction and breaking it down. I’ve always liked languages. I took Spanish, and then I took Latin in college and I even took a semester of German.”
Kersten decided to pursue teaching after coming from a long line of teachers in his family.
“My mom taught students with special needs, and her mom did the same,” Kersten said. “My grandfather taught science. He was a principal of a high school in south Florida.”
After college, he moved back to Orlando where he now lives with his family. Before Trinity, he taught at Lake Brantley. He transitioned to Trinity after recent laws made the curriculum hard for him to teach.
“I really enjoyed teaching at my old school,” Kersten said “But I really did not appreciate all of the restrictions that were being forced on me. I just didn’t like the lack of trust that I was experiencing on a macro scale. Not even from my particular school, but just from the state.”
However, Kersten now feels that at Trinity, he has the trust of students, administration and parents.
“They trust that I am capable of helping their kids learn,” Kersten said “I’m just not interested in being somebody that needs to be monitored. They don’t have to scan my books to see if I have some sort of unsavory agenda.”
Outside of school, Kersten enjoys hiking, the outdoors and camping. He loves taking big camping trips with his friends and their families.
“We like to do a lot of camping,” Kersten said. “I went to Wyoming a couple of summers ago, [we hiked] the Cirque of the Towers. And that was like a highlight of my life. I loved it.”
Kerston hopes to be a calm presence for students to turn to in case they might need assistance. He is very excited about his first year at Trinity Prep.
“I am just excited to feel like I can breathe with regard to what my students read. I’m excited to understand that, basically, 100% of my students are interested and like succeeding in my class,” Kersten said.
