We were lucky to catch up with Jed Dearybury recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Jed thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about the best boss, mentor, or leader you’ve ever worked with.

The best boss that I ever had was the one who trusted me most. The one who believed in my ability to do the work, and let me do it. Specifically, she didn’t try to make me conform to her ideals, rather she let me discover my own path and build on the beliefs that I held dear. She allowed me to be myself and utilize the skills I was great at to accomplish my work goals instead of forcing me into a box she created for me. It was so liberating to be treated in such a professional, respected manner.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I began my professional journey as a teacher in 2001. Since then, I have become an award winning early childhood/elementary educator, author, illustrator, and public speaker. During my 13 year elementary tenure, I taught grades 1-3. While there, I was named County Reading Teacher of the Year, Presidential Award for Excellence in Math and Science Teaching Award Winner, allowing me the privilege of being recognized by President Obama at the White House, School level Teacher of the Year twice, District Teacher of the Year, Top 5 finalist for SC Teacher of the Year, Donors Choose Innovator, and GQ Male Leader of the Year for 2013. Since those elementary days I have become a frequent presenter at state and national conferences, where I model best practices with technology, music, drama, visual, and performing arts for the regular classroom educator.

In 2010, I began an additional role in education as an adjunct professor. Since then I have taught courses for 7 colleges and universities, including the prestigious Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts. The adjunct work continues today along with managing my own educational consulting company, mrdearybury.com LLC.

I published my first book,The Playful Classroom: The Power of Play for All Ages, co-written with Dr. Julie P. Jones, in June of 2020, thus adding author and illustrator to my list of educational credits. My second book, Courageous Classroom, released in July 2021. Book number three, The Playful Life: The Power of Play in Our Everyday, was released in October 2022.

In 2023, I started my own Jed Creates Doodle Shop online where I say my digital artwork for creative use.

My mission: Equip, Encourage, Empower the teaching profession (and all professions) using meaningful, relevant, and hands-on fun!

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

In my book, The Courageous Classroom, I share lots of details about my own personal story. Childhood was tumultuous and there was lots to overcome. The hardest being wrestling with my most authentic self and finally coming out as a gay man to my family, friends, and the world. Growing up in the conservative South made that quite a difficult experience, and even now, as I live my truth, it’s a daily testimony of my resilience.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

I think many people would be hesitant to put an educator in the role of a “creative,” but the amount of creativity that is required to teach, and hold the attention of 7-8 year olds all day long is astronomical. On any given day I had to be quick on my feet and shift gears to meet the diverse needs of all of my students in a way that I could never have planned. What worked one day didn’t work the next. My mind was constantly thinking, engaging with all the moving parts, to make sure that I created the best learning environment and experiences for my learners.

Contact Info:

• Website: mrdearybury.com
• Instagram: @mrdearybury
• Linkedin: @mrdearybury
• Twitter: @mrdearybury
• Other: Jed Creates Doodle Shop: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Jed-Creates

Image Credits
Photos by Landry Agee Turner Clipart by me :)