Meet Our Instructors: Theo Johnson

Theo Johnson

Majors: Writing Seminars & Math

Year: Class of 2027

Teaching at: Furman L. Templeton

What’s something you really like about the school where you teach?

Here’s a list of as many of the things I like about Furman Templeton as I could write in thirty seconds:

- There’s always parking on Pennsylvania Ave

- The rose made out of pipe-cleaner attached to the pen at the front desk

- Ms. Hill, who demands good behavior from her students but treats them with respect and compassion

- The dress code (khakis), which is stylish but not too restrictive, allowing students to experiment with hoodies, ripped cargo pants, or just a classic polo + slacks

- The students’ respectful but motivated engagement with lessons

What surprises you about teaching for WBS?

The scale of Baltimore’s creative writing community. Whether it’s forming the next generation of the city’s writers in my own classroom, speaking with other WBS instructors/mentors, or reading the WBS anthology distributed to schools throughout Baltimore, every experience with WBS sheds light on the sheer number of Baltimoreans who love, teach, share, and learn writing. I am proud to be a part of that community, too, especially now that I have the opportunity to take up an active role in it, interacting with other writers, new and experienced.

What is something you’ve learned from your students?

Community enhances creative writing. As a young writer, I always assumed storytelling was an independent act: Me on my computer, isolated at a desk, and other people only included as the audience of my finalized story. But, at Furman Templeton, creative writing is never a solo endeavor. I see students take inspiration from each others’ remarks, even during independent writing time. Students have also experimented with their writing assignments by addressing stories and poems to peers, making the very act of writing a shared one. These students have shown me a whole new world of creative writing: One that starts with a community experience of language and results in laughter, insight, and a bubbling dynamic in writing I’ve never experienced before.

What is something you’re proud of?

In college, I picked up ice hockey by joining the JHU club team (I hadn’t played hockey since middle school and hardly remembered how to skate). This fall, I scored my first collegiate goal, something I’d been dreaming about for two years. That is a top ten memory, easily.

What are some things you love?

A crisp Diet Coke; NASCAR; the documentary, “Streetwise”; playing Trumpet; long walks with my mom through Rock Creek park in D.C.; and Elvis.