Chris Holmes

Chris Holmes is a journalism teacher by training. Holmes helped found a dropout prevention program at a large, suburban high school in St. Louis County. He left two years ago to help found the state’s first private, non-denominational high school for students with learning disabilities. After nearly two decades teaching a variety of adolescents—those at risk of dropping out, kids struggling with social and learning challenges, and scholars gifted with exceptional intellect—Chris Holmes realized they all had one thing in common: an element of apathy preventing them from fully engaging in the learning process. In 2018, he launched a project to identify the roots of student apathy and to learn what schools could do to minimize it. His phenomenological research study—in-depth interviews with dozens of teenagers throughout the country—is shedding light on how to maximize student engagement, learning, and well-being. Every June, Holmes moves to the University of Missouri campus to teach at a residential academy for gifted high school students.

Posts By Chris Holmes

student achievement

I Traveled Across 14 States and Every Student Told Me the Same Story About Why They're Not Motivated in the Classroom

Recently I was in Dodge City, Kansas, at Red Beard Coffee on Gunsmoke Street. I walk up to a guy with a red beard—the owner—and I ask if he knows any kids I could talk with about apathy and...

U.S. Department of Education

I'm Sick of Seeing Politicians Behave at Their Worst. This Is Why We Need to Teach Character Education in Schools.

Should we continue teaching character education? Stupid question, right? What well-meaning parent doesn’t want their child to learn “respect, justice, civic virtue, citizenship, and responsibility...

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