Uncorking A Story

John Seigel Boettner is a social studies teacher at Santa Barbara Middle School, but he’s not like one I ever had. It’s a special kind of person who can take middle school kids on a cross country bicycle trip across the United States and an even more special person who can do that through the Republic of Rwanda in central eastern Africa (Yes, that Rwanda). You see, John uses cycling and life experiences to teach his students lessons that they will never forget. In short, John is the kind of teacher you remember; the kind of teacher whose memory will hit you first as you think about the person you’ve become and consider how you got to that place. We don’t get many teachers like that in life but when we do, we should celebrate them. I met john at an industry conference this past January. Now, you may be saying to yourself, Mike, you are not a teacher, what kind of conference could you possibly have met john at? Well, our paths do cross, but it’s not where you might think. At Santa Barbara Middle School, John