Inspiration for Logo
Logo created by Matt Kalenuik, commissioned specifically by and for Teaching Is More LLC
Please view his website for all your graphic design needs, https://www.mkultra.pro
Thank you for your friendship and support, Matt!
I wanted a logo that meant something to me, because teaching means everything to me. This logo is symbolic of both what inspired me, as well as my philosophy as an educator.
Inspiration
Middle school was a challenging time for me, as it can be for many students at that age. I struggled to find my place. I loved learning and had a couple of close friends, but did not feel as safe as one should feel at school. But that changed.
In the 8th grade, I joined Mr. B's English class. Mr. B had been teaching for a long time, and I enjoyed his class. But he did something that inspired me and meant so much to me at that time and still to this very day. In a progress report he said of me, "Kurt is an island in a sea of followers."
In nine words, Mr. B made me feel seen, welcome, and valued. This is the power of excellent teaching.
In that class, we studied the poem, "Excelsior!" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. This was an ambitious choice for an 8th grade English class. While my peers were goofing around and not taking the exercise seriously, I was so invested. I could recite it from memory, and I have it hanging in my house and at school. This was the most powerful lesson I ever took part in as a student.
"Excelsior" means "forever upward and onward" in Latin. The poem is a story about a boy walking through a mountain village holding a sign with the word "Excelsior" on it. As he walks he encounters people, obstacles and temptations all attempting to deter him from reaching the peak of the mountain. Each time he overcomes these challenges, he simply says "Excelsior." The poem ends with travelers discovering that the boy had passed away on the peak of the mountain. The poem ends like this:
"There in the twilight, cold and gray,
Lifeless, but beautiful, he lay,
And from the sky, serene and far,
A voice fell like a falling star,
Excelsior!"
This brings us to the logo. It is an homage to Mr. B and what he did for me. The mountain represents the boy's journey from the poem, and the Teaching Is More text represents the final stanza of the poem, where the boy transcends the peak and ascends even further beyond anyone thought possible.
Thank you, Mr. B.
Philosophy
The logo also is symbolic of my approach to teaching.
While we are paid as educators to teach content, it is not the only part of our jobs. We are instructors, yes, but we are also leaders, role models, mentors, counselors, social workers, advocates, and more.
Teachers Are More!
While I can and do provide excellent instruction in my content area, I can also teach students much more than content. With the advent of the internet and now artificial intelligence, students can look up how to do every single topic I teach them, and most people anywhere on earth have access to this technology. I want to teach students how to think critically, to advocate for themselves, to know themselves, to collaborate, to be organized, and to plan for their futures.
Teaching Is More!
The logo represents my desire to provide a sound foundation of content knowledge (the book), and also aspire for moving beyond content to the other aspects of teaching and student success (the mountain and the stars).