Biography

John Russell was born in Lewiston but raised all across Maine, ultimately graduating from Yarmouth High School. He earned his Bachelor of Arts at Oberlin College in Ohio with majors in Comparative Literature and Creative Writing plus a minor in French. In 2010 he began his career in education by joining the U.S. Peace Corps, serving for two years as an English Teacher Trainer in Mongolia. In 2015, he obtained a Master of Arts in Teaching at Marian University in Indianapolis, completing coursework in secondary general education, special education, and English as a New Language (ENL). Besides Maine, Indiana, and Mongolia, John has also taught in California, Pennsylvania, and New Mexico. He is currently working toward a Master's in English through a distance program at Eastern New Mexico University. In addition to teaching ELA at Sumner, he coaches speech and debate, which he has done since 2018. John lives in Ellsworth with his wife Kaede, who is a midwife at Maine Coast Hospital, his children Ronan and Magnolia, who both go to Sumner Middle School, their two cats Leila and Hades, and their dog Zubi.