Resource teacher Jedeye Howard is a new addition to the Radford family, teaching sophomore, junior, and senior English.

Howard, a Chicago native, said he became a teacher so that he can be a gap stop between prison and high school. He said that when he was in Chicago, he recognized that it was a rough place to grow up in, so he wants students to remain in school because the current system is “setting kids up to go to prison.”

Howard said teaching is rewarding because he can watch students grow in their classes, take account of what they do, see them get excited, and take ownership and responsibility for their individual assignments.

Howard loves teaching American Literature because he said it’s a great subject and there are so many perspectives to teach. Howard went into detail about how literature has its historical elements to it, from a speech from Martin Luther King, Jr. to a novel from Maya Angelou. Howard also shared how unpopular perspectives can also be controversial to teach. “The Star Spangled Banner,” for example, was written by a slave owner who would hang slaves and those who wished to abolish slavery.

He has a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Special Education from Illinois State University.

He loves football, music, church, traveling, learning about different cultures, and teaching others about social justice. When asked to go into detail about his thoughts on social justice Howard said that the US doesn’t have equity, because it’s a country founded on slavery, inequality,  and white supremacy. Howard believes that a majority of those in the US have a hard time hearing and grasping the truth.

He transferred from a neighboring high school and said he likes Radford’s administration because they’re fair, and teachers seem to be cool and more focused.