Meet John Coats

To the staff and families of JPG High School: What an honor to be part of this inaugural year at JPG.

My mother was an elementary teacher for the better part of 40 years in Colorado and would bring me to her classroom throughout my childhood whenever our snow days didn’t overlap. Inevitably, some of her skills instilled themselves in my awareness of what a great teacher says and does, and after years spent in Englewood Public Schools, Denver Public Schools, and Pittsburgh Public Schools, I’ve learned that teaching is more of a science than the art form I initially believed. I owe my passion for teaching, in large part, to my mother.

Having spent my entire academic life in public schools, I can’t help but think that JPG will be an arena for personal formation as much as it is for academic preparedness. I am a graduate of CU Boulder, where I was fortunate enough to be caught in the excitement of my faith instead of the ways of the world. Since graduating, I have grown a deep respect for the Church Fathers, as well as the modern evangelists who can speak and unwind the knotty culture places like Boulder incubate. And mathematics has been the easiest vehicle for me to translate profound truths I stumbled upon (and stumbled, and stumbled…) Our children deserve a holistic presentation of the human understanding of our physical world—its history, proof, and representation. I’m honored and truly blessed to be a voice in this choir.