by Areli Hernandez Romero
Freshman English teacher David Kummer walks into his class welcoming and greeting his students as he asks about their day. Little do his students know that they will be learning about English from a published author’s point of view.
With six published written books and 5,000 copies sold, Kummer is thinking of setting himself a new goal for the upcoming summer to finish a Trilogy of books.
“I want to write another series, but there is one I’ve been working on since high school. I’ve written it and re-writing. It’s more like a personal goal,” said Kummer. “I want to make it the best I can.”
He talks about his personal struggles in high school and how writing was used as an outlet to help in many different ways with his mental health, depression and anxiety.-
“I used writing as an outlet. I used it to work on expressing myself. In some way it improved my self confidence. Saying I’m 16 and I published a book. It was a good way to connect with other people.”
Kummer talks about his experience as a young writer in high school helped him figure out his writing for advertising. He talks about what he has learned from his experiences.
“Publishing books in high school gave me a head start on most people and let me learn from trial-and-error, specifically when it came to promoting my books. I had to make a lot of mistakes to figure out what worked, so I used high school as a time to experiment with my writing and with my advertising,” he said.
Starting in elementary school, Kummer started writing. He said his dad and encouraged his success in writing.
“My dad encouraged me by always reading what I wrote, no matter how bad the writing was or how ugly my handwriting, as you know, and he even offered suggestions on what I could do better, but also pointed out what I did well. I really enjoyed that connection, and he still reads all of my books to this day,” he recalled.
Kummer said his favorite part of writing a book is that it unlocks new emotions for him.
“My favorite part of writing books is that usually when I start with something by the time I get to the end of it, it’s like a totally different story. It’s always fun when I get to that moment and it just clicks together. This is what this book is meant to be.”.
He says it’s a shocker to place all the puzzle pieces of his books together.
“It’s like an ‘aha’ moment. It shocks me when all the puzzle pieces come together. It can take a while to put all the puzzle pieces together,” said Kummer.
Kummer said his main focus is to write and not focus on being published.
“I think everyone can get something out of writing, whether it is self confidence or using it as an outlet. I like being able to see how books influence other people.”
English Teacher and Local Author David Kummer
“If you asked me four years ago I probably would’ve said that I wanted a publishing deal or to have a big publishing company. It would be cool to have a publishing deal but I’m not willing to spend a lot of time on it. I’m in it to write, not to be published,” Kummer said.
Kummer contributes being an author outside of school but he also aligns it with being an English teacher. He talks about the advantages of being an author and teaching it from his point of view.
“Having written books, I can see things from the author’s point of view, and I’m a little better at pointing out things and then we can talk about it in class. I can see it from the reading side and writer’s side.”
Kummer said being an author and teacher has helped him put himself out to the public and break out of his comfort zone.
“I think being an author and teacher helps me in both categories. When I was younger I was a very shy introverted person. I think being a teacher forces you to be less introverted. Also, when selling a book I put myself out there,” he nodded.
Though it can be a challenge, Kummer wants his classroom environment to feel stress free and exciting for his students on a daily basis. He reduces the stress of students by creating assignments that help with their engagement as well as being patient with them.
“My goal with teaching is that I want my classroom to feel like a space where kids are stress free. I want it to be a place where kids are excited to come to class. I try to create assignments that involve engagement that helps with their real life and person. I don’t want kids to worry about me screaming at them. I want them to know what’s going on right when they walk into my class.”
Sophomore Yanqi Liang proudly described Kummer as a teacher who can be trustworthy, unique, funny, and there for his students.
“He helped me all the time so I didn’t have to worry about failing that class. He broke down and explained projects individually. He’s an outgoing person and trustworthy at times. He participated in Spirit Week and he helped me with friendships. He’s unique because he tries to be friends with his students and cares about them. He is a role model to us,” said Liang.
Kummer focuses on being patient with his students whenever he talks about wanting his classroom to feel stressless, as well as trying to make it easier to learn and acknowledge the work of his students.
“If they don’t understand parts of speech, I can change the way I teach it and see if it works that time. It does get tricky but I have to keep in mind that almost every kid is doing the best that they can. Somedays their best might not be as good as other days. If something doesn’t stick one day it might be something we will have to come back to the next day and try again,” he said.
Freshman Dana Romero eagerly agreed with Liang about Kummer being a trustworthy teacher and being a unique teacher.
“He gives me his honest opinion and makes me see past my thoughts. He listens and is patient. He doesn’t go around talking about other students’ problems. He can talk to you and not judge you; he’ll leave you with no remarks. He is an outgoing teacher and communicates and reaches out if you struggle in class. He tries to understand you instead of making assumptions. He’s an amazing teacher,” said Romero.
Kummer’s advice for current students is to let them know that it does get better being in high school. Though it can be hard at first, recalling moments back in high school can give you a good laughter.
“You don’t have to be perfect to get through high school. I want kids to understand that it does get better. It’s hard to say because you are in high school. It feels like you’re stock in a fog and you don’t know how to get it out, but it does get better. Stuff that seems impossible in high school ends up being kind of easy. You’ll look back to high school and can kind of laugh about it years down the road. You’ll surprise yourself with what you’re capable of.”
Teaching at JHS allowed him to interact with students with different life situations and accomplishments. However, he points out the thought of working in a public school and private school and describes the difference between them.
“I really like teaching at Jeff because I get to interact with kids who have been through a lot of stuff and who had really tough lives. Kids at Jeff need you in a way that they don’t need you at a private school. Just the amount of kids who say ‘hi’ to you or a ‘good morning’. That is an accomplishment,” he said.
Getting started in writing can be hard. He said that getting started in writing or reading can be hard to get past but it can be done. Especially kids in his Writing Club held at JHS.
“It’s really hard to get started. It’s true whether you are writing something or reading something. The first page of the book you’re reading or the first page you’re writing is super hard to get through. What I’m trying to tell the creative writing kids is to not worry about the first draft, just write something. Sometimes you don’t really know how you should start a story until you get to the end of it.”
Writing is held with challenges when getting started. Kummer believes that students can write and get something out of it, including the influence that books can create.
“I think everyone can get something out of writing, whether it is self confidence or using it as an outlet,” Kummer said. “I like being able to see how books influence other people.”
